While defending champion Bryson DeChambeau led the exodus of big names to miss the halfway cut, Scott carved out a second straight even-par round of 70 at the beastly Oakmont Country Club to be tied fourth at the halfway mark.
Contesting his 96th consecutive major, 44-year-old Scott showed the young superstars how to play major championship golf, hitting fairway after fairway to lurk just three shots off the pace.
"I would have expected to be in this position if you said even par through two rounds," said Australia's former world No.1.
"It's just hard out there. I'm playing old-man par golf at the moment. For most of the first two days, I've been in the fairway off the tee, and therefore there hasn't been too much stress in the rounds."
Sam Burns fired the low round of the championship, a brilliant five-under 65 to snare the second-round lead at three under.
Fellow American and first-round pacesetter JJ Spaun is second, one stroke behind Burns, after following up his starting 66 with a 72 on Friday (Saturday AEST).
Seeking his maiden major, Norwegian super talent Viktor Hovland is the only other player above Scott on the leaderboard and one of just three in red numbers at one under following a second-round 70.
Scott's fellow former world No.1 Jason Day battled back into the picture with the second-lowest round of the day to also raise hopes of a famous Australian triumph at the US Open's most gruelling venue.
Former PGA champ Day was way off the pace after his opening round of 76 but demonstrated his enduring class with a three-under 67 to get back to three over for the tournament, just six shots back entering the weekend in a tie for 12th with five-time major winner and dual US Open champ Brooks Koepka (74).
Burns, who shot a final-round 62 on Sunday at the Canadian Open before losing in a play-off, also started his second round on the back nine and birdied 11, 13, 17 and 18.
He responded to his lone bogey at the first hole by putting his approach at the next hole to about six feet.
American world No.1 Scottie Scheffler had five bogeys and four birdies in his 71 to be four over alongside countryman Collin Morikawa (71) and fellow dual major winner Jon Rahm, who exploded after shooting a 75.
The second-round spoiler left the superstar Spaniard seven shots adrift of Burns.
"Honestly, I'm too annoyed and too mad right now to think about any perspective," Rahm said.
"Very few rounds of golf I played in my life where I think I hit good putts and they didn't sniff the hole, so it's frustrating."
Scheffler, while also peeved, mused: "I'm definitely not out of the tournament" after storms forced the suspension of play late and offered some soft-greens relief for the weekend hopefuls.
Masters champion Rory McIlroy birdied the last hole in a round of 72 to be six under and just inside the cut line.
Marc Leishman is also six over after a 75, with Cam Davis, one shot further back after a 73, the only other Australian set to make the cut.
Scott has far bigger goals than surviving the cut.
"I'd be pretty proud of winning this thing on the weekend," said the 2013 Masters champ.
"Right now, that's really what I'm here to do ... I definitely feel more confident than I have been this year. This is what I've been working towards.
"I was in the mix late at the PGA, and now kind of putting myself in this one for the weekend. It's a long way to go, but I feel like my game is in good enough shape to do this."
But after out-duelling McIlroy down the stretch to reign last year at Pinehurst, DeChambeau won't feature on the weekend after slumping to 10 over with a second-round 77.
At nine over following rounds of 77 and 72, Australian Min Woo Lee was also sent packing, along with dual major winner Justin Thomas, 2016 Oakmont champion Dustin Johnson, fellow former world No.1 Justin Rose, LIV Golf dominator Joaquin Niemann and Swedish sensation Ludvig Aberg.
With agencies
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