Hiroyuki Fujita shoots 66 to lead by one point after two rounds of the US Senior Open

Stephen Ames (68) was fifth at 7 under. Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen had his second straight 67 and was among three players at minus-6.

The cut, which was 2 over par, was not made: Frank Bensel, who made two holes-in-one in a row on holes 4 and 5 in the morning, but finished with a 74, which put him at 9 over par.

“We’re just going to enjoy it,” said the club pro from New York. ‘The original plan was to get some sleep and get ready for tomorrow, but that’s not necessary. We’re going to have a good time and relax a bit.”

Fujita, an 18-time winner in Japan, had never scored in four previous PGA Tour Champions starts in the 1960s and had never finished in the top 120 of a PGA Tour event or in the top 30 of a major. But he played a nearly flawless 36 holes on the 7,024-yard, par-70 AW Tillinghast course.

“I got lucky yesterday and I didn’t expect to play that well,” said the 55-year-old Fujita, who birdied three of his first five holes on Friday. “I didn’t expect that at all. I surprised myself a little bit. But it’s only Day 2 and I just want to keep playing consistently and not go too high or too low and see where it takes me.”

Fujita was the only player to reach 12 under during the round, with a birdie on the second hole, his 11th. But he made a 4 on the par-3 fourth — his only bogey of the first two rounds — and then parred his way in.

Green made the turn from No. 18 to No. 1 with three consecutive birdies. He pared his last seven holes.

Stricker shot 66 for the second straight day — his fourth straight nine-of-33. But the 2019 U.S. Senior Open champion said it was like playing a different course than in the afternoon, when the wind often makes a 180-degree turn.

“Yesterday we came out with soft conditions. Well, today we came out with completely the opposite wind to the wind we saw the course in,” he said. “I have never seen this course with this wind before. … It was a challenge. There are some holes that played a little easier, but some holes that played easy yesterday were difficult today.”

Defending champion Bernhard Langer, the 66-year-old who tore an Achilles tendon earlier this year, shot 72 to make the cut on the number. Rhode Islander Billy Andrade, who trailed by one stroke after 36 holes, shot 74 to drop out of the top 20.

“Benefit? A little bit. Sleeping in my own bed, fantastic. Seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time, great,” said Andrade. “But when you step into the ropes and go outside, you have to take one shot hit at the same time and you have to hit them right. If not, this place can make you look like a fool.”

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