Pinehurst, N.C. _ Martin Kaymer has taken a four-shot lead by dropping to minus-8 after his first seven holes of round 2 at the U.S. Open, and 49-year-old Fran Quinn is in second and minus-4.

Enough about them. Let's talk about the Minnesotans in the field.

Donald Constable is one over after three holes, and Clayton Rask is due to tee off at 1:42 (Central Time.)

Rask is currently tied for 60th. Constable is fighting to stay off the bottom of the leaderboard.

The former Gophers are both very likeable guys, and both tried to take positives from their first rounds. Rask birdied the first and the 18th, closing with a fist pump, before heading to the practice range.

Constable triple-bogeyed his 18th hole (the first, because he teed off on No. 10), but was gracious enough to make the long trek to the interview area.

That's no small thing, after shooting an 82 at a major. He could have declined interviews, and nobody would have blamed him. (I certainly wouldn't have.) He was frustrated, and spoke of how lonely the golf course can be when you're struggling.

But he closed by saying that he's ``25 and playing in the U.S. Open. That's not a bad gig."

I'll be following Rask and Constable today, and will have lots of coverage of the Open in the paper and on startribune.com through the weekend.

I'll be on 1500ESPN at 12:15 today from Pinehurst, and will co-host Sunday Sports Talk on 1500ESPN at 10 a.m. on Sunday.