Pinehurst No. 2 wreaked havoc on a ton of the best male golfers in the world on Thursday.

Reigning US Open champion Wyndham Clark, Tiger Woods, Viktor Hovland and others will be more concerned with making it to the weekend at the US Open instead of chasing down the lead on Friday.

The top 60 players and ties advance to the weekend. After one round, that line sits at two-over par.

Clark, Woods and Hovland are among the group beneath that number. An under-par round on Friday, or even an even-par trip through Pinehurst, should be good enough to move them on to Saturday.

Talking about making the cut and actually doing it are two different things on a course that only allowed 16 under-par scores on Thursday.

The full US Open leaderboard after one round can be found here.

Wyndham Clark Shows More Consistency on Friday

Clark's US Open title defense did not get off to a great start.

The winner from Los Angeles Country Club recorded four bogeys and one birdie across his first 13 holes.

Clark finished with five consecutive pars from the 14th to 18th holes. That is a great sign for how his Friday can go.

Clark will be right back out on course on Friday morning. The draw should help him improve his standing on the leaderboard.

The morning wave produced most of the top scores on the leaderboard on Thursday. The course got harder as the sun baked it on Thursday afternoon.

Clark will also start Friday on the back nine. His only birdie of the first round came on the 10th hole. A strong start could propel him to a comfortable spot inside the top 50.

Prediction: Wyndham Clark makes cut

Viktor Hovland

Viktor Hovland put together one of the ugliest first-round scorecards.

The Norwegian had six bogeys and a pair of double bogeys during his eight-over 78 round.

Hovland was torn apart by Pinehurst's back nine. He doubled Nos. 11 and 14 and dropped one shot at Nos. 12 and 16. His first birdie did not come until the 18th hole. He started on the back nine.

Hovland was not particularly better on the front nine with four bogeys, but he did record four pars and a birdie on his second nine.

He must eliminate the bogeys on the way to one of the best rounds of the second round to make the cut.

It seems unlikely given the way Hovland played on Thursday, but there were some low scores in the early session that he can draw some inspiration from to get better on Friday.

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods cut watch will dominate Friday afternoon's US Open coverage.

The legendary golfer turned in a four-over 74 on Thursday. He needs to be around the same score on Friday to stay around for the weekend.

Woods made the cut at the Masters, but he did not qualify for the weekend at the PGA Championship.

In order to make his second major cut of 2024, Woods needs to avoid the mistakes that hurt him on Thursday at the start of the front nine and end of the back nine.

Woods, who started on No. 10, bogeyed four of five holes, starting with No. 16, to put himself in his current predicament.

An even-par round may not guarantee Woods weekend safety, but if he cards a one-under 69 or even-par 70, he will at least be in good shape, especially if the other golfers around the cut struggle with the course.

Prediction: Tiger Woods makes cut.