Shows you how tough it is even to play from the first cut at Winged Foot. Tiger Woods hooks his approach from the fluff to the sand, tricky.

Justin Thomas wound his tee shot a long way left and he goes from rough to rough with his second.

Some serious work on to save par here.

Up ahead, Patrick Reed walks off the 16th green with a birdie that gives him the lead.

Drive into the middle of the fairway, pitch an approach to 10 feet, roll it in for three. Simple.

The American is back out to four under par.

Justin Thomas has lost the jacket. He means business.

"How's that for left?" he says after hooking his tee shot with a wood. "Get lucky! Gahh..."

That just about says it all for the world number three. He's finding things difficult at the moment.

Is Rory reading this? He's just made his first par of the day on the sixth.

He looks a little demoralised by that but given the run he has been on it was desperately needed.

Tyrrell Hatton briefly led the 120th US Open after holing birdie putts on his opening two holes on Thursday,

It's all gone downhill for him since then. He posted a four-over 74 in round one and has already dropped five shots today after eight holes to be nine over.

Another who needs to go birdie-hunting on the back nine...

Image source, Getty Images

Wondering who's to blame for this wonderfully challenging course? The answer is A.W. Tillinghast, one of six golf course architects to be elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

He designed the West Course at Winged Foot, which was opened in 1923, after spending time at St Andrews and studying under Old Tom Morris.

Nicknamed Tillie the Terror, he once wrote it was the architect's job to "produce something which will provide a true test of the game and then consider every conceivable way to make the course as beautiful as possible".

There has since been extensive work conducted on the bunkers and greens in 2017, along with trees being removed

Robert MacIntyre is the leading Scottish player on five over par - he's one over after four holes today.

Amateur Sandy Scott is at eight over, having dropped three shots in his opening four holes, and in need of a birdie or two to make the cut.

Connor Syme will be going home after a second 75 to finish on 10 over.

Wonderfully holed by Justin Thomas from eight feet, swirling around the cup before it dropped, to stop the bogey run and remain in a share of the lead.

Tiger Woods starts his birdie putt up the slope away from the flag and watches it slowly wind back down the steep green to leave him a five-footer for par.

Rory is leaking bogeys at present and that's another.

As it stands the 2011 US Open champion is only only four shots off the lead with plenty of holes left.

But he could badly do with plugging those dropped shots and just making some pars.

Justin Thomas' facial expressions have ranged from anguish to bemusement to frustration throughout the past few holes, and he adds perplexed to the gallery after a chip on to the 15th green fails to grip as he would have liked.

Matt Wallace is another playing going the wrong way, Three bogeys in his last four holes has seen him drop to three over for the tournament.

Ian Poulter is grinding hard - he's level par after four holes but he's five over., that's the same mark as Paul Waring and Justin Rose.who are three and two over for their rounds respectively.

Compatriot Andy Sullivan is edging towards the projected cut mark, which is now seven over. He's had five bogeys in his opening 10 holes.and is six over.

All those who thought this course was playing too easy will have quietened down now.

Three way tie at the top…

-3 DeChambeau (F), Reed (6*), Thomas (5*)

-2 Cabrera Bello (F), English (7*)

-1 Todd (7*)

E Pieters (F), Schauffele (F), Wolff (F), Kokrak (9)

Image source, Getty Images

Well, Patrick Reed looks to have got his eye in off the tee - a low slap down the 16th that winds into prime position on the fairway. Mind you, he was in a similar spot on the last and bogeyed.

Whooooaaaa. Almost a sensational recovery from Rory McIlroy whose chip out of the white stuff scoots across the green and lips out of the cup.

The rate of knots it was travelling at means he'll have an eight-footer to save par.

Bryson DeChambeau must be sitting pretty in the clubhouse, protein shake in one hand, flat cap in the other, watching the chaos unfold out on Winged Foot's West Course...

More sand for Rory McIlroy, this time he's pulled left after a gorgeous tee shot.

Crikey that's just the one green in regulation from five holes.

So Patrick Reed is out on his own at the top...

He looks to attack the flag with his approach at 15, but leaves it right and watches it hunker down in some juicy rough on the embankment.

The former Masters champ just about makes the smooth stuff, handing him an uphill putt to save par. Needs some oomph, doesn't get it... bogey.

That means a four-way tie for the top - Reed, Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English.

That'll do it, Justin Thomas. He's well out of the sand and into the middle of the green.

This to save par, from 14 feet. Thomas rolls it towards its target but it was never tracking the cup and stays up. Back-to-back birdies for the American, who drops out of the lead for the first time today.

That's horrible for Rory McIlroy whose third shot at the fourth squirts forward out of the rough about 60 yards or so.

That will have jarred on his wrists. He pitches on from there but this round is quickly unravelling. A double takes him back to level par for the championship.

Probably worth mentioning that the pace of play at the moment is chronically slow which is not exactly helping his mood or tempo either.

Patrick Reed reaches for his three-wood and chases one down the fairway for the first time today, leaving himself just over 140 yards to the flag. Can he sense JT is in trouble behind him?