Cottekill, N.Y. native Chris Deforest just made a bomb of a birdie putt to move to three-under par thru 10 holes, and currently is tied for second place with clubhouse leader Y.E. Yang in the US Open golf tournament at Congressional Country Club at Bethesda, MD. Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, who began his day on the back nine, has moved to six-under par after birding the sixth hole.
Deforest, 22, made this year’s US Open by shooting a seven-under, 65, in the second round of qualifying. The Illinois University graduate, who just recently turned pro, ironically played a practice round with McIlroy on Wednesday. The two played against each other in the 2004 Junior Ryder Cup, which featured Deforest defeating McIlroy in one match and halving another.
In other US Open news: Phil Mickelson is having trouble keeping the ball in the fairway, but somehow has managed to salvage a score of two-over par thru 16 holes.