U.S. Open Golf: 10 Players to Watch on Friday

The first round of the 115th U.S. Open is officially in the books. The long-awaited debut of Chambers Bay and FOX Sports have come and gone and now it's time to find out who's going to be playing the weekend. Some Thursday surprises are looking to parlay a hot start into a run at history, while other seasoned-vets are just looking to be within striking distance before moving day. Here's who to watch on Friday at the U.S .Open: [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/2/"]Next: Rory McIlroy[/button] Rory McIlroy Coming into the week, there was concern surrounding Rory McIlroy and his chances to win at Chambers Bay. After all, the world No. 1 had missed the cut in his previous two starts. On Thursday, he did nothing to calm those concerns. McIlroy didn't play poorly but on a day where 30 or so players managed to break par, Rors was only able to muster a 2-over par 72. If he can't find a way to go low on Friday, his chances of winning his third major in the last four tries will dry up fast. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/3/"]Next: Phil Mickelson[/button] Phil Mickelson Phil Mickelson didn't have his A-game on Thursday, but he still played well and opened up his latest run at U.S. Open glory by shooting a 1-under 69. At one point, Lefty had pushed it to 3-under, but made bogey at No. 13 and No. 14 en route to a back nine 37. Mickelson will have to bare down and go low tomorrow to keep himself in the running -- otherwise, he faces yet another disappointment in a U.S. Open. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/4/"]Next: Henrik Stenson[/button] Henrik Stenson Henrik Stenson is arguably the best player in the game without a major championship to his name. Another 5-under 65 on Friday would go a very long way in changing that. Stenson hasn't had a great 2015 by his standards, but came out firing on all cylinders at Chambers this week. His 65 was tied for the round of the day with Dustin Johnson. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/5/"]Next: Tiger Woods[/button] Tiger Woods It's hard to not want to watch what happens to Tiger Woods on Friday -- whether you love the guy or hate him. Coming off the worst round of his U.S. Open career, it'll be interesting to see what Woods has in the gas tank on Friday. It doesn't seem like the weekend is in his future, but you never know. Tiger could still be Tiger at any moment. He proved it with some clutch shots towards the end of his round on Thursday. Hopefully for Tiger, he found something late and will be able to put together something respectable in round two. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/6/"]Next: Jason Dufner[/button] Jason Dufner Not much has been heard of from Jason Dufner in recent months other than about he and Amanda's divorce. As far as his play on the course, there hasn't been much to write home about. On Thursday, however, Dufner put together a very solid round on a difficult layout at Chambers Bay. His 2-under 68 was good enough to get him in contention early, just a couple shots off the lead. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/7/"]Next:Cody Gribble[/button] Cody Gribble One of the Thursday afternoon surprises looking for a repeat of their round one success is Cody Gribble. The 24-year-old former teammate of Jordan Spieth put together a sparkling round of 68 to finish three shots off the lead going into the second round. It's Gribble's second U.S. Open appearance, but the first time he's made any real noise. It'll be interesting to see if the lefty can stay hot on Friday. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/8/"]Next: Colin Montgomerie[/button] Colin Montgomerie Want to see the single most ridiculous story in sports history? Then root hard for Colin Montgomerie to put together a round of 66 or 67 on Friday. Monty is one of European golf's national treasures and one of the most maligned pros in U.S. Open history. He's already collected two Senior major titles, but never one of the regular four. Could you imagine if he became the oldest major champion ever and got his first all in one fell swoop? It'd certainly be historic. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/9/"]Next: Brooks Koepka[/button] Brooks Koepka Brooks Koepka's name was on the lips of many experts heading into Chambers Bay this week -- but a repeat of Round one on Friday would likely have his name on a boarding pass out of town on Saturday instead of a leader board. Koepka shot a 2-over 72 which has him in a tie with Rory McIlroy and others who will need to go low on Friday if they want to hang around for the weekend. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/10/"]Next: Geoff Ogilvy[/button] Geoff Ogilvy The 2006 U.S. Open champion, Geoff Ogilvy has enjoyed a bit of a career resurgence in recent months following his first win in five years at the Barracuda Championship last August. Ogilvy fired a 1-under 69 on Thursday but played even better than the score shows. It'll be interesting to see if he can find a way to make a run on Friday and contend for his second major championship. [button color="blue" size="normal" alignment="center" rel="follow" openin="samewindow" url="https://bunkersparadise.com/45907/u-s-open-golf-10-players-to-watch-on-friday/11/"]Next: Ben Martin[/button] Ben Martin One of the surprises early on Thursday was Ben Martin. Coming into the week, Martin had finally got his game back on track after a streak of missed cuts and poor finishes following his victory last October at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Martin got himself into contention with a great round on Thursday, but only time will tell if he can withstand the pressure and do it again in round No. 2.