Golfers in the U.S. Open described some of Friday's second-round pin placements as cruel on the crowned greens at Pinehurst No. 2.

Wait until the weekend.

"Brutal would be a good word for a few of them," Jim Furyk said.

Furyk said the pin on the first hole was "on the side of a hill" and told reporters to "go out and look at No. 14, that's a fun one."

Some players laughed at Saturday's predetermined USGA pin placements on the treacherous greens.

"I saw where they dotted a few (holes) and it's pretty funny," John Daly said. "It looks like to me if you do miss it on the bad side of the hole you are not getting it up and down."

Furyk just sighed.

"Look for No. 16, that one's a doozy," Furyk said of the pin placement Saturday for the second-hardest hole on the course. "We'll enjoy that one."

And Corey Pavin called the pin placement Friday on No. 14 "an optical nightmare. It looks like you can hit it an inch by the pin and it will roll 40 yards over."

VIN PUSH: Corey Pavin was on his way to missing the cut in his third straight Open before staging a nice comeback with birdies on Nos. 17 and 18 to close Friday's second round with a 1-over 71.

Pavin won the '95 Open at Shinnecock Hills, but has struggled with his game, winning only once since then, the Colonial in 1996.

Pavin's two closing birdies came on the heels of three straight bogeys.

"I was pretty mad after 16. I worked pretty hard and battled and got it back to 4-over for the tournament and then I bogeyed 14, 15 and 16 and I could have just kicked myself," he said.

It was quite an eventful round for Pavin, who holed a bunker shot from 40 yards on No. 8 for a birdie. Three holes later, he made a 40-footer for birdie that drew a cheer so loud that those on the next fairway thought it was for Tiger Woods.

AMATEUR CHAMP: Defending U.S. Amateur champion Hank Kuehne may hit the ball a long way, but admitted Friday he has a lot to learn as a golfer.

The 23-year-old Kuehne plans to turn pro Monday after the U.S. Open.

He started his second round Friday with a perfect tee shot, and had a wedge to the green. He ended up with a triple-bogey 7 after having his chip shot roll back to his feet and then three-putting.

Kuehne birdied the difficult second hole, bogeyed the easy No. 3 and birdied the next two and ended his roller coaster round with a 5-over-par 75.

"He played some really good shots, and when he hits it straight it makes the play easier because he's so long. And I was impressed with his touch," playing partner and defending Open champion Lee Janzen said. "He hit some pretty sorry shots, too, which I think he would admit to."

Kuehne said he wasn't impressed with his two rounds, despite tying Janzen at 7-over and beating his other playing partner, Mark O'Meara, who missed the cut at 10-over.

"In the big picture, that's great, but I shot 7-over-par," Kuehne said. "I'm happy to have been here and played, but you don't want to beat people playing poorly. You want to beat them playing well."

THUMBS UP: The general consensus among golfers is that the U.S. Open should return to Pinehurst No. 2 -- and soon.

The Donald Ross gem designed in the early 1900s seems to be standing the test of some of the world's greatest golfers.

"It was A-plus, I think it was great," Jack Nicklaus said of No. 2. "I think they (the USGA) would want to run back here as fast as they could."

Other golfers agreed with Nicklaus. Greg Norman went as far to say No. 2 should be included in the USGA's rotation with courses such as Pebble Beach, Oakmont and Baltusrol.

"I can't wait to come back here," defending Open champion Lee Janzen said.

Players said they like No. 2 because it's a thinking man's course.

"The USGA has got this golf course set up the way they wanted it set up," Hal Sutton said. "A lot of times when we get out there in a normal round of golf, it's almost mindless sometimes. It's 170 yards and, 'OK give me the 6-iron.' Around here, 170 yards is not necessarily a 6-iron; you may be shooting at another part of the green."

LOVE LOST: Former British Open champion Justin Leonard was none too pleased to address the cameras after shooting a 5-over 75 to fall back on the leader board.

Leonard's playing partners, Greg Norman and Davis Love III, refused to come to the podium set up for cameras to interview players, which seemed to aggravate Leonard. He turned to a USGA official and asked in a stern voice why he had to come to talk about his round.

Norman was available in the locker room and talked to reporters there, while Love went to the driving range to hit balls.

The tense interview session lasted a few minutes.

"I played the last three holes at 2-over-par and it doesn't sit well with me," said Leonard, who is 4-over after two rounds.

AP