Lafayette’s Michael Smith finished off play in his first-ever U.S. Open appearance — and his first ever in any high-level professional tournament — here on Saturday, and he finished with a little bit of flourish.

Smith missed the cut at the USGA’s 111th national championship, but he did play 1-under-par for the three holes that he had remaining in his second round and nearly made it 2-under.

The sectional qualifier missed a birdie putt on the seventh hole — his 16th of the second round after starting on No. 10 — but he followed with a birdie at the eighth and finished off play with a par on the difficult ninth hole.

The par-birdie-par finish left him with a second straight 5-over 76, and his 152 score put him tied for 128th in the 156-man field. Seventy-one golfers made the cut, with the cut line at four-over 146.

"It was a really great experience," Smith said. "I wish I had played a little better, but I struggled with my ball striking all week and this isn’t the place to struggle there."

Smith’s second round ended prematurely on Friday when two rain delays pushed play back — one of 46 minutes at mid-afternoon and the other coming just after 8 p.m. (EDT) that eventually halted play for the day. He had just hit his tee shot on the par-three seventh hole when play was halted, and on his first stroke Saturday his 15-foot birdie putt slid by the lip.

However, he came back to post his second birdie of the tournament on the 354-yard par-fourth eighth hole and finished with a par on the mammoth 636-yard par-five ninth.

Smith’s playing partners didn’t fare as well over the final three holes to finish the second round Saturday, and it hurt both of them. Jesse Hutchins was four-over at the stoppage and needed only to par in to make the cut, but he bogeyed the long ninth hole and missed the final two rounds by one stroke. Michael Tobiason was two off the cut line but took a bogey on the eighth hole and finished at seven-over.

Smith’s 76-76—152 score left him tied with nine other golfers — including five-time PGA Tour winner Jonathan Byrd. Several other notable pros — Stewart Cink, Rickie Fowler, Hunter Mahan, Nick Watney, Jim Furyk, Mark Wilson and fellow Louisianian David Toms — also missed the cut over the difficult 7,574-yard par-71 Congressional Country Club course. The course again played well over par today, at an average of 73.28 for the cut-down field.

Athletic Network Footnote:

Michael Smith: Scorecard at 2011 U.S. Open