Sergio Garcia showed all his battling qualities as he completed a 36-hole marathon at Oakmont Country Club to sit just two shots off the lead at the US Open.
Half the field will begin their second rounds on Saturday morning after lengthy rain delays on day one, but Garcia - who was in the other half of the draw - completed rounds of 68-70 on Friday.
The Spaniard's playing partner Dustin Johnson set the clubhouse target at four under and with the notoriously difficult layout in Pennyslvania getting firmer in warmer conditions, that could well prove to be the second-round lead come Saturday afternoon.
Garcia recovered from two early bogeys to post his opening 68 and when he returned to the course shortly after, he slipped back to level par before birdies on the second and sixth moved him back up the leaderboard.
A 51-foot putt to save par on the ninth - his final hole - epitomised the nature of Garcia's day, and the 11-time European Tour winner was pleased with his efforts.
"It was tough, obviously," he said. "I'm not going to lie, it was much easier than it was in the practice rounds because of the rain. But it was a little bit breezy this morning. It played tough.
"You still had to hit good shots. A lot of pins, you had to be careful not to spin it too much to spin it off the green. So you still have to think your way around very well.
I'm very happy to finish at two under. I didn't play that great this afternoon but I thought I scrambled nicely and I made a couple of big putts when I needed to - Sergio Garcia
"It's definitely the toughest (course) I've ever played. There's no doubt about it."
England's Andy Sullivan was a shot behind Garcia after rounds of 71-68 and the three-time European Tour winner believes patience will be the key over the weekend.
"I'm going to try to use my experience I have on the European Tour of being up there and winning events," he said. "Try and pull on that.
"I know it's going to be a long, hard weekend. The greens are going to get firmer and quicker and I'll have to be ultra patient out there.
"Probably not as aggressive as I've been the first couple of days because I have to play a little bit smarter. But it is what it is and I'm going to thrive on it, up there at the US Open."
Countryman Lee Slattery is a further shot back and knows that a good weekend here would move his career into another stratosphere.
"I feel like I'm at a time in my life where I've been on Tour for a long time and I've got to try to elevate myself up to another level, whether it's this week, next week, whenever it is," said the 37 year old, who came through the 36-hole qualifier at Walton Heath last month.
"I feel I've got to win something a little bit bigger to keep on achieving my goals in life.
"Obviously I want to play a Ryder Cup and also just contend in bigger events and one day you never know."
