Henrik Stenson warned against writing the US Open Championship off as Martin Kaymer’s title after a strong finish moved the Swede up the leaderboard to tied fifth.
Stenson birdied three of the last five holes at Pinehurst No. 2 for a second successive 69, and at two under he is eight shots behind Kaymer, who posted another imperious five under par 65 to take a six shot lead into the weekend.
Quietening the whispers that suggested the weekend would become a victory procession, the reigning European Tour Number One said: “There’s still a long way to go - 36 holes is a lot of golf and a lot of things can happen.
“We just have to wait and see. I think I'll stick to my game plan for another nine or 18 holes, at least, and the goal would always be to be within three or five shots, with 18 holes to go. You know you’ve got a chance then if you do something brilliant.
“So it's more about trying to work your way up and I managed to come back with three birdies in my last five holes to get back to red figures for the day and two under total. So I'm quite pleased with that and I’ve just got to keep on working away.”
Rory McIlroy is another player in the chasing pack, lying tied tenth after a two under par 68 he described as “very solid”.
“If someone had told me at the start of the week that I was going to be standing here one under par after 36 holes, I would have taken it,” said the Northern Irishman. “I would have said perfect, let me play the weekend and see what happens.
“But what Martin has done over the first couple of days has made one under par look pretty average. But I’m happy with where my game is and there's a lot of golf left to play. So we'll see what happens over the weekend.”
McIlroy is familiar with Kaymer’s position, having taken a large lead into the weekend at both the Masters Tournament and the US Open three years ago. He stumbled at Augusta, but two months later made amends by winning by eight shots at Congressional.
“If I was Martin I’d be thinking about how to get seven ahead and then how to get eight ahead and then how to get nine ahead,” he added. “You need that mentality that you're not trying to protect a lead. If you get too defensive it’s detrimental. I learned that at the Masters.
“He just has to keep hitting his spots and being aggressive. If he’s comfortable out here and making birdies, that’s what he should still be thinking.”
