Topsham’s Caleb Manuel had a nice bounceback round on Friday after Thursday’s 13-over-par 83 at the 122nd U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Manuel shot a four-over-par 74 for a two-day total of 17-over-par 157. He was tied for 152nd in the 156-player field and missed the cut.
He had nine pars, five bogeys, a double bogey and three birdies in Friday’s round after registering 11 bogeys, a double bogey and six pars on Thursday over the 7,193-yard par-70 layout.
His final nine holes were his best as he shot a one-over-par with a birdie to go with two bogeys. He shot three-over-par over his first nine holes on Friday.
The 20-year-old two-time All-Big East selection and former Rookie of the Year from the University of Connecticut collected his first birdie of the tournament at the par-five, 616-yard 14th hole.
Manuel and playing partners Keith Greene and Ben Silverman began their afternoon round at the 10th hole after starting Thursday morning’s round on the first hole.
Manuel added another birdie on the 364-yard, par-four 17th hole and netted a third birdie on the front nine when he posted a three on the 490-yard par-four fourth hole.
Greene finished last with an 83-81-164, which was 24-over-par but Canadian Silverman shot a five-over-par 145 (72-73) and missed the cut by just two shots.
The cut was three-over-par 143.
Co-leaders Collin Morikawa and Joel Dahmen were at five-under-par 135.
Manuel will now set his sights on next week’s Live and Work in Maine Korn Ferry Tour event at the Falmouth Country Club. It will go from Thursday through Sunday.
Manuel and Camden’s Cole Anderson, who plays his college golf at Florida State, received sponsor’s exemptions to play in the tournament, which is a notch below the PGA Tour and sends players to the PGA Tour every year based on their finish in the Korn Ferry Tour standings.
Manuel played in it a year ago but failed to make the cut.
It will be the first time for Anderson.
Manuel had qualified for the U.S. Open by shooting a three-under-137 over 36 holes on two courses in New York on June 6.
Manuel won two individual Class A state championships and led Mt. Ararat of Topsham to two team titles during his high school career.
He won the Maine Amateur and Downeast Metro tournaments a year ago.
He just finished his sophomore season at UConn where his two-year scoring average is 71.58, the best in school history.
He shared medalist honors with Seton Hall’s Gregor Tait in the Big East Tournament this season and played in the NCAA Division I New Haven Regional where he tied for 15th with a two-under-par 208 over three rounds.