The first day of the U.S. Women’s Open is a good time for clichés, so let’s get them out of the way right now. “You can’t win the championship on Thursday, but you can lose it on Thursday,” is one. “This is a marathon, not a sprint,” is another. But the reason clichés become clichés is that they are true.

If Day 1 at The Olympic Club was about not playing your way out of the championship, Day 2 is about positioning yourself properly to make a run at the title on the weekend. For some, Friday will be about the struggle to make the cut. For others, it will be about climbing the leader board. For all, it will be about the dream of winning the 76th U.S. Women’s Open.

Here are 3 things to look for in Round 2 on Friday:

Lurking in the Fog

While Mel Reid and amateur Megha Ganne sit atop the leader board at 4-under-par 67, there are a bunch of big names lurking just behind. Among those at even par or under par going into the second round are Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko, past U.S. Women’s Open champions Inbee Park, Jeongeun Lee6 and Ariya Jutanugarn as well as major winners Brooke Henderson, Lexi Thompson, Shanshan Feng and Lydia Ko.

One thing that is a certainty is that The Olympic Club will become more challenging as the week goes on. In part that is because it will become firmer and faster and the rough will grow a bit. But it is also because, with each passing day, the pressure of competing for the U.S. Women’s Open intensifies. Everyone is competing not just against the other 155 players, but also against herself.

Test of Resilience

Scorecards can be deceiving. A glance at The Olympic Club card for the U.S. Women’s Open shows the last three holes are two par 5s, followed by a 326-yard par 4. What appears to be a birdie stretch was far from that in Thursday’s Round 1 as Nos. 16, 17 and 18 all played over par, making it a dangerous closing stretch.

But here’s what to keep an eye out for on Friday. The USGA likes to test the ingenuity of the competitors – and their ability to think on the fly – by moving tees around. That could especially be a factor on the closing par-5 holes. Depending on where the tee markers are set, they could be more accessible in two strokes, bringing more birdies and the occasional eagle into play.

The Unkindest Cut

Friday is cut day at the U.S. Women’s Open and in Round 2 that is the game within the game. Nelly Korda, looking for her first major championship, shot 7-over-par 78 and likely has work to do to qualify for the weekend. Sung Hyun Park, who won the 2017 U.S. Women’s Open, is at 77, and defending champion A Lim Kim is at 79. U.S. Women’s Open champions Brittany Lang (2016), In Gee Chun (2015) and Na Yeon Choi (2012) are at 75 while So Yeon Ryu, who took the title in 2011, is at 74.

But who knows where the cut will end up? The last time a score greater than par won the U.S. Women’s Open was Birdie Kim at 3-over-par 287 at Cherry Hills in 2005. The cut number that year was 9-over-par 151. The winner shot even par in both 2006 (Annika Sorenstam at Newport) and 2009 (Eun-Hee Ji at Saucon Valley) with the cut at 9 over in 2006 and 10 over in 2009.

The action resumes Friday on the Lake Course at The Olympic Club. Follow it streaming on usga.org and on Peacock (5-7 p.m. EDT) and Golf Channel (7-11 p.m. EDT).

Ron Sirak is a Massachusetts-based freelance writer who frequently contributes to USGA digital channels.