LOS ANGELES – Entering Friday’s second round of the 123^rd U.S. Open, Wyndham Clark had three mini-goals:

1. Enjoy himself on a beautiful golf course.

2. Be cocky.

3. Remind himself of the first two goals.

Clark checked off all three while posting a second-round, 3-under 67 to take the clubhouse lead at Los Angeles Country Club. As Clark, sitting at 9 under addressed the media, first-round co-leader Rickie Fowler was just teeing off in his encore to Thursday’s U.S. Open-record 62.

The 29-year-old Clark, whose best major finish in six starts is T-75, didn’t expect to be atop the leaderboard come Friday night, but he still had a lot to be confident about.

As Clark enjoys a breakout campaign that’s included a win (Wells Fargo) and seven other top-20s, he has made a glaring improvement in his iron play. One of the longest players on Tour, Clark ranked No. 23 in strokes gained approach entering this week. In four previous seasons on Tour, he’d never finished the year ranked better than No. 173.

If you ask Clark, he’s made a couple changes to unlock his approach game. He adjusted his lie angle on his irons, from relatively flat to 3 degrees upright, about a year and a half ago, and he also promoted himself to his own instructor.

“It’s myself and my caddie pretty much who monitor my golf swing,” Clark said. “I don't have a swing coach. That's helped me own my swing and own my game. And so, when I'm out there, if it doesn't feel right, I at least know what to do. I think in the past I was too reliant on someone telling me what to do that I didn't own it.”

Clark carded four birdies to just one bogey on Friday. At the end of his round, he ranked top 10 in strokes gained off the tee, around the green and putting. He was slightly in the negative approach, but he had already diagnosed his problem by his presser, eager to head to the range after to fix an iron swing that is “a little steep to protect it from going left right now.”

“I'm almost playing a swipe cut that is going a little bit shorter than my normal numbers would,” Clark added. “What I will say is the last couple irons I hit did feel better. Like the one on hole 9, my 18th hole. I flushed an 8-iron and actually hit the correct yardage. But we're going to probably go out there and try to hit some tight draws and get my swing back to neutral so that hopefully going into tomorrow I feel confident about it.”

Clark’s shot of the day in Round 2 may end up being the up-and-down of the championship through 36 holes – at least. He tugged his second shot at the par-5 14^th hole into the fescued bunker lip, the pin tucked behind the right trap. With almost zero green to work with, Clark skied a flop that landed near the hole and bounded to 13 feet. He followed the hero shot by rolling in the birdie.

Asked how many times out of 100 he could pull that off again, Clark responded, well, like he would expect himself to.

“I had a good lie, so I'd say I would do 70 or 80 out of 100, honestly,” Clark said. “If it wasn't a U.S. Open and a tournament, I think it's that number. But in a tournament, it's probably way less because you have the nerves. I just felt like I kind of manned up and hit the shot, and then obviously making that putt was huge.”

“… I was feeling a little cocky about that.”

LOS ANGELES – Brooks Koepka knows he’s going to have to put aside his feelings about Los Angeles Country Club if he wants to capture a third U.S. Open title.

Sitting at even-par 140 through two rounds, well off the pace at this U.S. Open, Koepka said that LACC isn’t “my favorite” and knows that he'll have to produce two low rounds this weekend to have any chance to win.

“I’m not a huge fan of this place,” he said Friday after a second-round 69. “I’m not a huge fan of blind tee shots, and then I think there’s just some spots that no matter what you hit, the ball just ends up in the same spot.

“I think it would be more fun to play just a regular round than it would be a U.S. Open. There was, what, two 8s (62) yesterday? That doesn’t happen.”

The first of Koepka’s major titles came at the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, a new venue that produced a few record-setting numbers, with Koepka tying the 72-hole scoring record in relation to par with a 16-under mark. A year later, Koepka reigned at Shinnecock with a 1-over winning score.

Asked what he thinks, philosophically, a U.S. Open should be, he said: “I think it should be around par.”

By the time Koepka finished his round Friday, he was already nine shots back of clubhouse leader Wyndham Clark, with Rickie Fowler still on the course and pushing the lead into double-digits under par.

Koepka didn’t think the setup was unreasonable in the second round – “I didn’t think anything was really tricked up; I just didn’t play that great so not going to really shoot a good number” – and wondered how much more difficult the USGA could make conditions over the weekend. He'll need both help from the field and decidedly better play if he wants to continue his torrid major season during which he tied for second at the Masters and won the PGA Championship.

“I won majors on golf courses that I haven’t really liked too much,” he said. “But this one, I don’t know – it’s not my favorite.”

As the world's best players are currently dueling for the U.S. Open crown in Los Angeles, many of them will be battling again next week over 3,000 miles away at the Travelers Championship. 

Eight of the world's top 10 players — Scottie Scheffler, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay, Viktor Hovland, Max Homa, Matt Fitzpatrick and defending champion Xander Schauffele — are set to tee it up in Connecticut next week. 

Other notables include Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa, Tom Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Sahith Theegala, who is back for redemption after a bunker blade on the 72nd hole last year cost him the tournament. 

The Travelers Championship is known for hitting it on the head with their sponsor's exemptions to rising stars. This year, four spots were granted to former world No. 1 amateur Ludvig Aberg, who turned pro last week, U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett, Connecticut native Ben James and Michael Thorbjornsen, who finished fourth last year at TPC River Highlands. 

Jordan Spieth, the world's 10th-ranked player and 2017 Travelers champion, is not in the field, as players are allowed to skip one designated event. 

Check out the full field below: 

LOS ANGELES – Chunk. Chunk. Skull.

That’s how Dustin Johnson described a three-shot stretch on the second hole at Los Angeles Country Club Friday. He walked off the green having to write an 8 on his scorecard. A quadruple bogey.

Still, Johnson walked into the scorer’s tent after his second round at the U.S. Open with a smile on his face. He rallied for an even-par 70, sitting 6 under for the tournament.

“Making a quad on No. 2 definitely didn't get the day started off kind of how I envisioned it,” Johnson said. “But to battle back and get it back to even par for the day and 6 under for the tournament … Definitely proud of the way I came back and finished off the round.”

Johnson got himself into trouble on No. 2 by hitting a drive into the left fairway bunker. His next shot was the first chunk, traveling 94 yards before settling in thick rough. Things went from bad to worse when his third shot finished in the barranca short of the green. A disastrous score was certain.

However, it didn’t take long for the 2016 U.S. Open champion to stop the slide. Johnson called his tee shot that found the middle of the fairway on No. 3 his most important shot of the round. He went on to make birdie, steadying the ship both on the scorecard and in his mind.

“Sometimes it is (hard). Today it wasn't, though,” Johnson said of trying to bounce back. “I've got a lot of confidence in the game and what I'm doing right now. It was nice obviously to come back and birdie the next hole. That definitely helped.”

Johnson’s rally took off on the back nine, where he made three birdies and came home in 32. A 7-foot par putt on No. 17 and a 16-footer for birdie on No. 18 both produced signature faint fist pumps.

He was happy with the finish, but believes there were opportunities to go even lower and further erase his early quadruple-bogey.

“I had quite a few good looks at birdie that I didn't make, and I lipped out a couple,” he said.

Johnson still has to watch the afternoon wave come through, but he knows he will be in contention heading into the weekend. He has his 64 on Thursday to thank, which tied Tiger Woods for the most rounds of 65 or better at a major with 10.

He will try to make more history come Sunday. According to Elias Sports Bureau, no player over the last 30 years has won a major championship after making a quadruple.

LOS ANGELES – His hair is darker, his equipment different, his profile larger, but there was still much for Rory McIlroy to glean by rewatching highlights of his most recent major championship title.

By this point, it must feel like ancient history. But a few weeks ago, McIlroy cued up YouTube footage from the 2014 Open Championship at Royal Liverpool. The McIlroy of that era was renowned for his free-flowing power, his swagger, his uninhibited hunger. He was 25 at the time, his entire athletic prime still ahead of him. But what stood out to him now, nine years later, wasn’t any physical trait or swing key or sensation. It was, of all things, his course management.

“I actually couldn’t believe how many irons and 3-woods I was hitting off the tee,” McIlroy said of the Open in which he shot 17 under at Hoylake to claim his second consecutive major, and his fourth in his past 15 attempts.

“It set something off in my mind: You know how to do this. You know how to play smart. You don’t have to hit driver all the time. Yes, it’s a big weapon, it’s a big advantage. But I keep saying that I’ve got more weapons in my arsenal I feel now than I did back then, so I may as well use them and play to them.”

Through two rounds, at least, McIlroy has employed a similar strategy here at the 123rd U.S. Open. Los Angeles Country Club features some of the widest fairways in tournament history (43 yards on average), but it’s imperative to find them, with thick, juicy Bermuda rough and penal bunkers swallowing any errant drive or approach.

McIlroy has missed only five fairways, none of them by particularly wide margins, and turned that stellar driving into rounds of 65-67 that put him in the mix at yet another major.

“I felt like coming into this week that was going to be a key for me if I could put the ball in play,” he said. “You can play from there and create some scoring opportunities. That’s really my game plan over the next couple of days – put the ball in play off the tee, and I think I’ll be just fine from there.”

McIlroy appears to have significantly more control of his ball than even a month ago at the PGA Championship, where he simply teed it high and let it fly, accuracy be damned. After a week of work at home, he showed significant progress at both the Memorial and the RBC Canadian Open, where contended through three rounds before a pair of Sunday slides. Though he prevailed in Dubai to begin his year, he wasn’t won on the PGA Tour since last October.

It's been an even longer drought in the majors, of course, as he approaches the nine-year anniversary with a return to Hoylake on deck next month. McIlroy is right about boasting more weapons than in his most dominant era; now he possesses a long game with more shot shapes and trajectories, a tidier short game and a more consistent putter while retaining all of his high-octane power. But the harsh truth is that the completeness of his game will matter little without results in the legacy-defining events.

“No one wants me to win another major more than I do. The desire is obviously there,” he said. “I’ve been trying and I’ve come close over the past nine years, and I keep coming back. I feel like I’ve showed a lot of resilience in my career, a lot of ups and downs, and I keep coming back.

“And whether that means I get rewarded, or I get punched in the gut or whatever it is, I’ll always keep coming back.”

McIlroy is back for more this weekend at LACC, where he’s hoping his greatest weapon is his brain, not his brawn. Just like he remembers. 

Manchester United are growing concerned that David De Gea might have played his last game for the club, sources have told ESPN.

United chiefs believed they were close to an agreement with the goalkeeper to extend his contract but talks have dragged on and there are fears he could now leave this summer.

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Sources have told ESPN that the club decided against triggering a one-year extension to De Gea's contract, which would have kept him at the club until 2024. The option expired in May.

Instead, negotiations have taken place about a longer deal on a lower basic wage but including significant performance-related bonuses.

Sources have told ESPN that talks with De Gea are ongoing but that United are not as optimistic about reaching a compromise as they were a month ago.

De Gea, 32, has spent 12 seasons at Old Trafford and made more than 500 appearances.

Sources have told ESPN that earlier this season he was exploring the possibility of returning to Spain while there has also been tentative interest from clubs in Saudi Arabia.

United, meanwhile, are set to make a second bid for Chelsea midfielder Mason Mount.

A first offer of another £40 million ($51m) was immediately rejected by Chelsea, who want closer to £70m. United won't stretch that far but, according to sources, are hoping to agree a fee of around £50m.

Mount will enter the last year of his contract at Stamford Bridge this summer and there is little hope he will agree fresh terms.

The market for the Mount, which at one stage included Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern Munich, has cooled significantly over the second half of the season and United are seen as the clear frontrunners for his signature.

United are hopeful that Chelsea's need to sell a number of players this summer will help negotiations move quickly to allow the possibility that Mount could be part of the squad ahead of the preseason tour of the United States, which starts in New York on July 20.

England tightened their grip on Euro 2024 qualifying Group C courtesy of a 4-0 win away to Malta with Trent Alexander-Arnold shining on his first international start for a year.

The Liverpool right back, deployed in midfield, scored one and was involved in England's other two goals before half-time as England cruised in the Ta' Qali National Stadium.

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His raking pass released Bukayo Saka in the eighth minute with his low cross being bundled in to his own goal by Malta's Ferdinando Apap under pressure from Harry Kane.

Alexander-Arnold powered home a right-foot shot for England's second in the 28th minute and was also involved in the move two minutes later that ended with Kane being tripped for a penalty he dispatched for his 56th England goal.

Malta dug in after halftime and were extremely unlucky to concede a fourth with a harshly-awarded penalty for handball converted by substitute Callum Wilson after 83 minutes.

England have nine points from three games, with Ukraine, Italy and North Macedonia all on three points from two games.

Manager Gareth Southgate left a clutch of Manchester City treble-winners on the bench after their exploits in Istanbul last Saturday with several players getting the chance to impress.

Alexander-Arnold, who has struggled to hold down a starting place under Southgate, certainly did that in the first half of what was only his 18th cap since making his debut five years ago.

"I enjoyed it. I love playing football and being on the pitch and representing my country," he told Channel 4.

"To play the full 90 minutes, I was happy. After the little break at the end of the season, it was about getting fitness back in my legs. I want to make sure I am regularly on the team sheet and today was a good foundation to build on."

The variety of his passing and power down the right was a constant threat and his pass sent Saka galloping away to pull a ball back towards Kane that was turned in by Apap.

His goal, his first competitive one for England, demonstrated his shooting prowess and he proved a handful again for the Malta defence as Kane earned the penalty with which he registered his 50th competitive international goal.

Saka was withdrawn at halftime with an ankle knock and replaced by City's Phil Foden while Eberechi Eze also earned a first cap when he came off the bench late on.

England's fourth goal was terribly harsh on Malta's Steve Borg who was adjudged to have handled Wilson's shot despite his arms being by his sides.

Wilson did not care as he stroked home his penalty with Kane already off the pitch.

England host North Macedonia on Monday when victory will give them one foot in next year's finals.

United States captain and veteran defender Becky Sauerbrunn will not be included in the squad for the Women's World Cup because of a foot injury she suffered in April, sources confirmed to ESPN.

Sauerbrunn, who won two World Cups with the USWNT, suffered a setback in her return to the Portland Thorns FC on June 3, sources said.

The news was first reported by The Athletic.

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Sauerbrunn is one of several injured American players to miss the tournament, which kicks off July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, after attacker Mallory Swanson went down with a knee injury in April.

Midfield stalwarts Sam Mewis and Catarina Macario are also sidelined for the holders.

Sauerbrunn, 38, is one of the team's longest-standing players with 216 international appearances. She helped the Americans to World Cup titles in 2015 and 2019. Her most recent international appearance was a friendly against Ireland in April.

Head coach Vlatko Andonovski is set to announce his 23-player squad imminently and reports said he informed players Thursday of whether he planned to include them.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.