It settled at seven-over, with Fox in a tie for 36th at the end of the day.
As if Oakmont wasn’t already playing as a brutal assignment for the golfers, things were expected to get tougher over the weekend with rain in the forecast likely to soften the course up.
This morning, despite the early tee time, play was slow going once more, with Fox’s round again taking more than five hours to complete.
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Starting his round on the back nine, things got off to a perfect start for the Kiwi with a birdie on the par-four 10th.
However, he gave that shot straight back to the course on the par-four 11th, again getting caught by the native area off the tee and having to take a drop.
He was one-under for the day after eight holes with three birdies and two bogeys. However, three bogeys in a row at the turn sent him falling down the leaderboard.
He dropped another shot on his 15th hole of the day – the par-three sixth – but finished up with three pars, including on the eighth and ninth holes, which were playing as the toughest holes of the morning.
When he finished, Fox sat in a tie for 67th before racing back up the leaderboard as the rest of the round unfolded.
Sam Burns, who Fox beat in a four-hole playoff to win last week’s RBC Canadian Open, looked set to lead the field at the halfway stage. The American was living up to his title of being the best putter by strokes gained on the PGA Tour and carded a five-under-par 65 to move to three-under for the tournament and lead by one shot.
Wyndham Clark, Min Woo Lee, Bryson DeChambeau, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood and Phil Mickelson were among a host of big names set to miss the cut.
Ryan Fox’s round-two scorecard
In playing order
10 (par 4): Birdie
11 (par 4): Bogey
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12 (par 5): Par
13 (par 3): Birdie
14 (par 4): Bogey
15 (par 4): Birdie
16 (par 3): Par
17 (par 4): Par
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18 (par 4): Bogey
1 (par 4): Bogey
2 (par 4): Bogey
3 (par 4): Par
4 (par 5): Par
5 (par 4): Par
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6 (par 3): Bogey
7 (par 4): Par
8 (par 3): Par
9 (par 4): Par
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.