Winners and loser after 36 holes at the U.S. Open

We're still 36 holes from crowning a new U.S. Open champion, but before we head to the weekend, it's time to look back on some of the winners and losers from the first two days of the tournament.

Winners

Tiger Woods: A spot on the winners list? This has to be a mistake, right? Not this week, after Woods posted rounds of 69-70 to grab a share of the lead going into the weekend. He won eight of the last nine majors where he's held at least a share of the lead going into the weekend, so you have to like his chances -- especially the way he's hitting the ball at the moment. Woods is leading the field in driving accuracy at 75 percent. If he keeps that up, he's got a great shot to take home his 15th major championship -- and fourth U.S. Open -- on Sunday evening.

Graeme McDowell: There's something about playing in the U.S. Open that brings out the best in McDowell. After missing three consecutive stroke-play cuts, the Ulsterman showed up at Olympic and found his game. His round could have been even better had it not been for a five-hole stretch that included four bogeys. Even with the mistakes, he still finds himself only two shots off the lead at 1-over.

Olympic Club: How tough is Olympic Club playing at the moment? Let David Toms tell you: "If they gave you the first cut on every hole, you'd probably take it." Yep, hitting the fairways on this course is an absolute must, unless, of course, you enjoy taking a ride on the bogey train. With only 28 players within four shots of the lead -- and only three in red figures -- at the 36-hole mark, it looks like we could be in for a great weekend on one of the toughest U.S. Open tracks in recent memory.

Hunter Hamrick: Making his pro debut at the U.S. Open, Alabama golfer Hunter Hamrick looked to be well on his way to slamming the trunk early after an opening-round 7-over 77. That honestly should have been it the way Olympic Club was playing, but Hamrick decided to grind, posting a 3-under 67, the lowest round of the day, to make the cut. Even better? He'll be taking home a paycheck from his first even as a professional. That's never a bad way to kick off your career.

Losers

Luke Donald: He may be the No. 1 ranked golfer on the planet, but it's time to start questioning if Luke Donald's ever going to win a major. A favorite to win at Olympic Club, where fairways and greens are the keys to success, Donald crashed out early with a 9-over 79 on Thursday -- all but ending his chances. His usual consistency was nowhere to be found off the tee (he hit only 50 percent of his greens); and the putter was awful as well (1.78). It makes you wonder when, if ever, he's going to figure things out in a major.

Rory McIlroy: One year after he blitzed the U.S. Open field by eight shots at rain-softened Congressional, Rory McIlroy never even gave himself a shot at Olympic Club, missing fairways and greens with regularity and looking completely lost on the greens. With the exception of this year's Masters, he's been a non-factor in the last couple of majors. Since his 14-under win at the U.S. Open, he's gone T-25 in the British Open, T-64 in the PGA Championship, T-40 in the Masters, and missed the cut at 10-over for the week. It's time to go back to the drawing board.

USGA's 10-shot rule: It's one thing to notify golfers of your decision to tweak the rules well before the start of play, but apparently the USGA never got that memo, opting to change the 10-shot rule -- it allows all players within 10 shots of the lead to play the weekend -- at the last minute. Now it's just the top 60 players and ties. The change affected Casey Martin, Louis Oosthuizen, Ryo Ishikawa and Dustin Johnson, who would've all been around had it not been for the new rule. I can understand why the USGA made the switch (it should speed up pace of play with fewer golfers on the course), but a simple heads-up would have been nice.

Bubba Watson: Everyone thought it was silly when we started questioning if Bubba was starting to burn out after his Masters win. But after two missed cuts in his last three events, it's obvious he needs to get back out and start working on his game. He finished 9-over for the week (78-71) and admitted before the tournament started that he could potentially shoot 80 because of the course conditions. He was close.

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Winners and losers from an action-packed U.S. Open week

SAN FRANCISCO — Another U.S. Open is in the books. As expected, the tournament came down to the wire, with an up-and-coming twentysomething coming from behind to win his first major championship. Of course, Webb Simpson wasn't the only name making noise, good or bad, on Sunday afternoon. Here's a look at the winners and losers from Olympic Club.

WINNERS

Webb Simpson — Simpson was clearly the biggest winner of the week, but it's worth taking a closer look at what the 26-year-old managed to do over the last 36-holes to make the win possible. A non-factor for much of the early week, he played his last two rounds in 4-under (68-68), which is an incredible feat considering how difficult Olympic Club was playing this week. Not only that, there was a point five holes into his final round where he was six shots back of Furyk. Six shots. He managed to play his last 13 holes in 4-under to post a comeback even Billy Casper would've been proud of. And the up-and-down on the 18th hole? Well, that's the kind of heady stuff you expect to see from a major champion.

USGA's Mike Davis — Forget Webb Simpson come-from-behind win, having Mike Davis on the winners list could be the biggest surprise of all. At the beginning of the week, holes like the 670-yard par-5 15th, and the par-3 13th hole (with its shaved left bank) led you to believe a bloodbath could take place at Olympic Club. It wouldn't have been the first time after what transpired at the 1998 U.S. Open. But USGA executive director, Mike Davis, didn't trick the course out. If anything, it was one of the best setups we've seen from the USGA in years. Sure, Olympic Club was difficult, but it's the U.S. Open ... it's meant to be a grueling test. Davis gave players accessible pins and made them feel like even though the course was a beast, there were spots where you could pick up a couple birdies on the inward stretch. It was a tough but fair test that produced a star-studded leader board. No doubt about it, Davis and his crew should be proud.

Michael Thompson — Thompson will likely be remembered for the short birdie putt he missed on the 17th hole that would've forced a Monday playoff, but let's look at everything else he did right this week. In just his first major championship as a professional, the up-and-comer proved he could be a force in the future. He already had one top-10 and four top-25s on the PGA Tour before the week, but we really got to know the 2007 U.S. Amateur runner-up at Olympic Club when he opened the tournament with 4-under 66 on Thursday. He struggle in between with rounds of 75-74, but when push came to shove on Sunday, he brought his A-game to the course, closing with 67 for the low round of the day. Give the guy some credit for bouncing back and putting together a great week on a stout track.

[Related: Golf's big guns misfire on the sports biggest stage]

David Toms — Toms wasn't on anyone's radar at the beginning of the week. After missing the cut at two of his favorite events on the tour schedule (Colonial and the FedEx St. Jude), the 45-year-old arrived at Olympic Club looking like a likely MC. But after opening with round of 69-70, he found himself in the second-to-last group on Saturday. Toms floundered with a 6-over 76, but he put it all together in the final round, going 3-under over his final 12 holes. His T-4 finish -- which allowed him to book a spot in next year's Masters field -- was the best U.S. Open finish of his career

Jordan Spieth — The soon-to-be University of Texas sophomore wasn't even the most talked about amateur in the field this week. That title went to 17-year-old Beau Hossler. Spieth, however, didn't seem to mind the spotlight being on someone else, because he quietly put together a solid week, posting rounds of 69-70 over the weekend to grab low amateur honors. An alternate who got into the field when Brandt Snedeker withdrew, he certainly made the most of his opportunity on such short notice.

LOSERS

Jim Furyk — He may be one of the most consistent golfers in the world, but when the pressure started to rise on Sunday afternoon, Jim Furyk crumbled. He's won a U.S. Open before, so he knows what it takes in the final round, but he to feel like he let this one get away. While the rest of the field was making a move on the back-nine, he was struggling to keep the ball in play with wayward shots that cost him on Nos. 13 and 16. And when he failed to make birdie from the bunker on the par-5 17th hole, his fate was sealed. No doubt this loss will haunt him for years to come.

Lee Westwood — You have to feel for the guy. He's been so close in the last five years at the majors that you have to wonder if he's snake-bit. It sure looked that way on Sunday, as Westwood suffered some awful luck on the par-4 fifth hole when his ball got stuck in the "Janzen tree." When it never fell out, he had to go back, re-tee and ended up carding a double-bogey that nixed his tournament chances. All in all, it was a rough week for one of golf's top players.

Rory McIlroy and Luke Donald — It'd be easy to pick on Luke Donald's game and question his poor play at Olympic Club, but Rory McIlroy should also be lumped in with him as well. He is, after all, the second-ranked player in the world. Like Donald, McIlroy had his struggles this week and never really found a groove . Donald was off as well, posting 9-over 79 in the first round to miss the out on the weekend. When the top two ranked players in the world don't make the cut, red flags usually go up. There's no question Donald and McIlroy are both incredible talents, but when they can't even make it to Saturday at a major, you can't help but feel like the questions about their staying-power in the sport are warranted.

Ernie Els — Let's get this out of the way right now: Ernie Els deserves a lot of credit for posting a top-10 finish this week. However, he blew a perfect opportunity to win his fourth major championship with a poor back-nine that proved once again that he has some trust issues with his swing. Closing with two bogeys in his final three holes on Sunday, Els wiped out a great opportunity to pick up a couple late birdies and apply the pressure.

Tiger Woods — We save the best worst for last. Following rounds of 69-70, it looked like Woods was a lock for the "winners" side of this article at the midway point of the tournament. He was leading the field in driving accuracy and seemed to be in control of his game. But something happened on Saturday afternoon. Instead of grabbing the tournament by the throat, Woods struggled with his distance control on approach shots and never could quite get the ball to the cup. Sunday was more of the same, as he finished the week T-21, the second-worst U.S. Open finish of his professional career. After the win at the Memorial and the early week success, it's hard to put a finger on where it all went wrong for Woods. Needless to say, he still his game is still a giant question mark.

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