Burns, a 28-year-old from Louisiana, has five PGA Tour titles, the last one more than two years ago. Despite that, he leads the quartet under par through 54 holes.

Scottie Scheffler battled just to salvage a 71 — the sixth straight round over par in a U.S. Open for the No. 1 player — and then headed to the range with arms flailing while venting frustration on why the ball wasn't going where he wanted. He was seven shots behind and felt he was still very much in the hunt for a second straight major.

Brooks Koepka, the last player to win back-to-back U.S. Opens, flirted with the top of the leaderboard on Friday, never made a move, shooting 73 to stand at 5-over. Collin Morikawa, a two-time major winner, never made a move, shooting 74 to stand at 8-over for the week.