And with no-one better than -1 in the final few groups out on the course, that’s a wrap for today. A fascinating opening day and although scoring was tough there’s a feeling that it’ll only get harder as the week goes on. Is this Rory’s time again? A six-shot advantage over a subdued Scottie Scheffler certainly helps although there’s still an impressive cast-list on page one of the leaderboard. We’ll be back tomorrow to see how it unfolds. Thanks for reading!
DeChambeau makes par at his final hole, the 9th, and signs for a very well-played 3-under 67. So, we have a top five comprising two Americans (Cantlay and DeChambeau) and three Europeans (McIlroy, Åberg and Pavon).
-5: Cantlay (F), McIlroy (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F). DeChambeau (F)
-2: Finau (F), Hatton (F)
Your co-leader Rory McIlroy speaks. “I feel like I played a really controlled, solid round of golf. There wasn’t anything spectacular, I hit some really good iron shots but just stayed disciplined. When I got myself in trouble, I took my medicine, got out of trouble, hit the middle of the green, two-putted. This is the whole thing about a US Open, trying to keep a clean scorecard. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to keep it bogey free for the rest of the week but this tournament is not about how many birdies you make, it’s about how many bogeys you don’t make and I did that well today.”
Some said Tyrrell Hatton wouldn’t cope on a course like this given his capacity to blow a gasket at the drop of a hat/shot. But that was unfair given that he finished tied fifth in the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock which was played in ludicrously hard conditions and won in an over par score. Today, he’s just signed for a 2-under 68 and walks off in tied sixth. It’s an even par 70 for Tommy Fleetwood (tied 16th).
It’s hard to know what to make of Thomas Detry and it probably doesn’t help that the picture of the 31-year-old on his Wiki page is him at about age 15. Why? He’s yet to win on the DP World Tour or PGA Tour but he helped Belgium to success in the World Cup in 2018 and he’s becoming a real player in the majors. Tied 13th in last summer’s Open, Detry was tied fourth in last month’s US PGA and he’s -1 here after 14, currently good enough for tied eighth.
DeChambeau’s birdie try at his penultimate hole (8) just fails to turn right at the death despite his urgings. But this is another strong day’s work in a major for the 2020 US Open champ and recent US PGA runner-up. He’s tied fourth, one of just 16 players under par for the day.
The stats reveal how all parts of Rory’s game clicked today. The live Strokes Gained rankings show him 2nd Tee To Green, 3rd Around The Green, 7th Approach, 14th Off The Tee and 19th Putting.
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Rory McIlroy ties the lead with a 65
Here goes Rory with a 20-footer at 18 to tie the lead and… boom!! He’s walking after it straight way, knowing it’s heading in. A superb bogey-free 65 and McIlroy’s bid to win his first major since 2014 is off to an excellent start. When Rory won his four majors from 2011-2014 they were all fuelled by fast starts: 65 at Congressional (2011), 67 at Kiawah Island (2012), 66 at Hoylake (2014) and 66 at Valhalla (2014). This is all very, very encouraging. He’s completely outperformed playing partners Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele today and that will give him a further lift. Scheffler has to settle for a 1-over 71 while it’s a 70 for Schauffele.
-5: Cantlay (F), McIlroy (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F). DeChambeau (16)
-2: Finau (F), Hatton (17)
Chapeau to recent Canadian Open winner Bob MacIntyre as he birdies his penultimate hole of the day to return to even par. It was hard to gauge how the left-hander might perform this week after he returned home to Scotland to celebrate his first PGA Tour success. Would he be a bit groggy or riding a wave of confidence? So far, the signs look good.
DeChambeau seemed destined to go through his career with marmite status but despite potentially polarising opinion even further by joining LIV, he’s somehow turned himself into one of the more popular figures in the game. He’s turning heads again here and having been the 18-hole leader at the US Masters in April, he has a chance of being the first-round pacesetter at the US Open too. Or at least sharing that honour with Cantlay and perhaps McIlroy. DeChambeau has a battle on his hands at 7, his 16th, though after missing the green and chipping back up to nine feet away. He’ll have that for par to stay one back.
Scheffler’s putt never looks anything but right in the middle of the hole. Birdie! That’s one back and the Masters champ has a little spring in his step as he walks to the 18th. A birdie there will leave him five off the pace. It’s a two-putt for McIlroy and he’s one hole away from a bogey-free opening lap. A birdie for the Northern Irishman would tie Cantlay for the lead. The 18th has yielded 27 birdies so far today so it’s on.
Scheffler ideally needs to do a Collin Morikawa and birdie his final two holes to finish at even par. He’s certainly put himself in position to do the first leg of that thanks to an excellent tee-shot at the par-3 17th which ends 13 feet way. McIlroy and Schauffle are also safely on the green but lie 25-30 feet away.
After a 344-yard drive at the tough par-4 16th, Rory’s giveaway twirl after he hits his approach tells us this is a good ‘un. Yep, it plonks down 11 feet way and he’s in birdie range. Scheffler boomerangs his approach around a tree but it skips over the green and he has a 15-footer for par after a modest chip. That stays above ground and a bogey takes him to +2 and seven back. Schauffele has a similar distance for his par but the Valhalla champ manages to dribble it in to stay at evens. Here goes Rory for birdie and, bang, straight to the heart and he joints DeChambeau and Åberg on -4 and just one off the pace.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F), McIlroy (16), DeChambeau (14)
-3: Pavon (F)
-2: Finau (F), Hatton (15), Capan III (11)
DeChambeau has found the green in two at the par-5 5th, his 14th, after getting a favourable drop from the tee. He cosies his first putt up to the hole and taps in the second to move to -4 and just one off the lead. A runner-up in the US PGA at Valhalla last month, Bryson means business again. Sky Sports certainly think so and are now running a montage of great DeChambeau shots set to ‘Celebration’ by Kool & The Gang. There can be no higher praise.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F), DeChambeau (14)
-3: Pavon (F), McIlroy (15)
-2: Finau (F), Hatton (14), Kaymer (13), Capan III (11)
What did double US Open champion Brooks Koepka have to say after his even-par 70? Answer: not a lot.
🚨🎤🚫 #NEW: After declining an interview post round, Brooks Koepka agreed to a text message interview with Eamon Lynch: “I opted not to do ‘em just because I didn’t feel like it. Same questions every week. The lack of creativity with questions is kinda boring. I know I’m not a… pic.twitter.com/Yjn1mprZS2
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) June 13, 2024
McIlroy (-3), Schauffele (-) and Scheffler (+1) all make par at 15. Rory celebrates by smashing one down the 16th fairway but Scheffler looks mildly appalled with himself after tugging one left into spectators, his ball landing near enough to a tree to suggest he’ll have to curve his way to the hole with a slinging draw. Yet another fairway missed.
While I chomp on some cornflakes, time to take a gentle look further down the leaderboard and pick out some of the big names.
-1: Hatton (13), Kaymer (12)
Ev: Kim (15), Schauffele (15), Fleetwood (14), Homa (13), Matsuyama (13)
+1: Scheffler (15), MacIntyre (14), Spieth (13)
+3: Clark (13)
+5: Lowry (12)
+6: Hovland (13)
Rory goes with 7-iron at the 206-yard par-3 15th. It’s not his best swing by any means but it finds the green and every chance he two-putts for par from there. Scheffler also hits and remains on the putting surface. He’s about 30 feet way, Rory just over 40. Schauffele, meanwhile, will need to chip and putt for par after his ball bounds away off the green and down a slope.
Hideki Matsuyama holes out from a greenside bunker at 12 to return to even par. The 2021 Masters champion has made the cut in each of his last 16 majors which is some going. In the US Open he was runner-up at Erin Hills in 2017 and fourth two years ago at Brookline. Also a brilliant winner in the Genesis Invitational at famed Riviera earlier this season thanks to a scintillating Sunday 62, he’s definitely one to keep an eye on here. As, of course, is Rory McIlroy. A four-foot par putt at 14 keeps his card clean. Eleven pars and three birdies on a course like this is mightily impressive.
Let’s delve into Scheffler’s stats. What’s not working for the World No 1? Here are his live Strokes Gained rankings:
Off The Tee: 96th
Approach: 45th
Short Game: 20th
Putting: 116th
Not great and add that to him hitting just five fairways out of 11 and he’s doing well to be no worse that +1.
US PGA winner Xander Schauffele looked to be in for a day of struggle after bogeys at 4, 5 and 7 relegated him to +2. But the victor at Valhalla has come back with birdies at 9, 10 and 13, the latest holed from 19 feet, to get under par for the day. That tally of -1 puts him in tied seventh. But while he makes a move, Scheffler continues to stall. Currently at +1, he misses yet another fairway at 14.
A mention for Martin Kaymer, the runaway winner by eight at Pinehurst in 2014. The German has rather gone off the radar since joining LIV but he did manage a tied ninth in the latest event in Houston last week. Perhaps boosted by that first top 10 of 2024 he’s going along nicely here at -1 after 10.
Schauffele’s drive at 12 ends up in a specator’s bag from which he gets a free drop. It’s still tough work from there and he ends up having to hole a 12-footer for par. He stays at evens, one better than Scheffler who also makes par. Just one birdie for Scottie so far whose official status is ‘hanging in there’. Playing on the other nine, DeChambeau confidently knocks in a birdie putt on his 12th (the third) after a towering approach and joins McIlroy and Pavon on 3-under.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F), McIlroy (12), DeChambeau (12)
-2: Finau (F), Kang (5)
Bryson DeChambeau won the 2020 US Open at Winged Foot by six, using bomb-and-gouge tactics and demolishing the field by six. He can’t do that here and this is an extremely different test but the monster hitter is still making an excellent fist of this, sitting at -2 after 11. Then again, how did he pull this off?
Bryson made birdie from here 🤯 pic.twitter.com/KXg4tAgyUk
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2024
Gordon Sargent – a man these pages are convinced sounds like a CIA agent connected to Watergate and the JFK assassination – has, by stealth, made his way to -2. In reality, he’s a highly-talented 21-year-old amateur with lots of game, as shown by a delightful approach at 9 which sets up a tap-in birdie. Sargent finished 39th in last year’s US Open at LA Country Club.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F), McIlroy (11)
-2: Finau (F), DeChambeau (11), Sargent -a- (9)
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So what of Tommy Fleetwood? He opened with a birdie at 10 although it remains the only red number he’s scribbled on his scorecard. But with just one bogey (at 16) he’s going along nicely enough at even par. The Englishman has work to do at No.2 (his 11th) after missing one of the hardest greens on the course to hit but a nifty chip allows him to save par. Playing partner Tyrrell Hatton gives one back though and returns to -1 after failing to get up and down. He’s not happy. As you would imagine.
Here’s Tiger’s assessment of his 4-over 74 today. “I thought I did the one thing I needed to do today which was drive the ball well. I did that but I just didn’t capitalize on any of it.” It’s a fair assessment. The 15-time major winner found 12 of 14 fairways but only hit nine greens in regulation. He also needed 32 putts. Woods is currently nine off the pace and 117th in the 156-man field.
Rory knocks his birdie putt in from five feet at 10 and strolls off looking intently at the marking on his golf ball as he tends to do when he’s done a good thing. Up to -3. Schauffele two-putts for birdie to return to even par but it’s a missed opportunity for Scheffler. He leaves himself 11 feet for birdie at 10 and a graphic says a tour pro knocks these in 33% of the time. Scottie is in the other 67% though and pushes it right to remain at +1.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F), McIlroy (10)
-2: Finau (F), Hatton (10), DeChambeau (9), Knapp (7)
Two hefty blows by Rory at the par-5 10th leave him with an eagle chance from just off the green. He putts up and over the hill to within likely birdie range. It’s all looking good for McIlroy, who has been joined by DeChambeau on -2… for the time being at least.
Sky Sports have just shown an Instagram picture of Scheffler sat in a barber’s chair after getting his hair chopped by @monti_the_barber. Scheffler’s robe (is that the right word?) has official US Open logo branding on it and, after a quick internet search, he’s not the only one to be on the end of Monti’s scissors. Apparently, Anthony “Monti” Montanez was chosen to be the barber for the 2018 US Open at Shinnecock Hills and seems to have kept the role. Here he is after scalping Rory a few years back.
McIlroy’s birdie putt at 9 just fails to catch the hole but that’s an extremely impressive front nine of 2-under. Stress free and three better than playing partners Scheffler and Schauffle, the two major winners so far this season. McIlroy has yet to beat Scheffler in any tournament so far this season (they’ve teed it up in the same event nine times) but he’s made the ideal start to change that stat. And, who knows, maybe anyone who beats Scheffler this week wins the tournament. Michael Campbell, the 2005 winner here, will know all about that having relegated Tiger Woods to second place at Pinehurst 19 years ago.
A few notable names from the afternoon wave are gathering at -1. They include Open runner-up Tom Kim (9), already a three-time winner on the PGA Tour at 21, 2020 US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau (8) and three-time major winner Jordan Spieth (7).
Take a bow Robert Rock. The Englishman was a very surprise qualifier for Pinehurst this week. This was some round.
Robert Rock opens with a level-par 70
— Mark Townsend (@MTownsendGolf) June 13, 2024
- Not played on tour for 600+ days
- Last played a US Open in 2012
- First time at Pinehurst
- 11/14 fairways
- 13/18 greens
- Two birdies, two bogeys, 14 pars pic.twitter.com/wncpFoavUQ
Viktor Hovland will likely win a major one day but it won’t be here. The Norwegian’s travails continue as another dropped shot sinks him further down the leaderboard to +6 after just 7 holes. But just before Hovland in your alphabetical lists, there’s a bearded man with a big smile on his face and that isn’t always his go-to expression. Yes, Tyrrell Hatton has knocked in a birdie effort at 17, his eighth, to join McIlroy at -2. Rory stays there with a nicely-executed up and down from off the 7th green. Scheffler stays at +1 with a par but is reluctant to pick his ball out of the hole after sinking his putt. Probably a bug in there and Scheffler walks off smiling as caddie Ted Scott takes a bullet for his man before, rather less heroically, squashing the poor thing. With the flagpole.
What do you think Scottie saw in there? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/DzCH9YZfKh
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 13, 2024
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With a (kind of) bucket hat and lemon-coloured golf ball, Peter Malnati could possibly be a Stone Roses fan. I’d bet folding money he isn’t though. Still, he sounds like a bass player from a Manchester band and there’s another entry into the par (Durutti) column, his sixth straight of the day. Even par overall is currently worth tied 18th on the leaderboard by the way. Malnati was a surprise winner of the Valspar Championship in Florida earlier this season although he’s played in five majors and missed the cut in the lot of them.
Updated
As if prompted by that below stat, Scheffler curls in a 12-footer for birdie at 7 to return to +1 and back within ‘can still win the US Open from here’ range. But US PGA winner Schauffele is now out of it after a third bogey in four holes drops him to +2. McIlroy splits the difference, his par keeping the Northern Irishman at -2 and still on a leaderboard that has become static with afternoon conditions tough and the p.m wave struggling to make an impression.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F)
-2: Finau (F), McIlroy (7)
Okay, let’s answer that question. Here are the day one positions of past Pinehurst winners:
1999 Payne Stewart – fifth after 18 holes, one shot off the lead
2005 Michael Campbell – 17th after 18 holes, four off the lead
2014 Martin Kaymer – leader by three after 18 holes!
Widening the lens makes it even more scary for the slow starters. Beginning with that 1999 edition at Pinehurst, only one winner since then has ended round one outside the top 23 (Brooks Koepka at Shinnecock in 2018 after he opened with a 75 to lie 46th). No winner in that study period was more than six back after the opening lap so, with Cantlay at -5, history says you really don’t want to be worse than +1 when round one is in the books. Scheffler is at +2. Just sayin’.
McIlroy gets up and down for his par at 6 to stay at -2 and, despite giving it a bit of a lean with an iron from the tee, finds the short grass at the 7th. The right side is the place to be so he’s A1 there really. Scheffler has only hit one fairway out of five so far but that’s a better swing and we can update that to 2-for-6 now. No need for any panic of course although a mythical reader has asked how close to the lead were the three previous winners of US Opens at Pinehurst. Answer: coming up shortly…
It’s been a disastrous start for Viktor Hovland, who is already a full 10 strokes off the pace set by Cantlay after a bogey and two doubles in his first five holes. Major winners Jason Day (after 6) and Keegan Bradley (after 4) are also struggling early in their rounds, both at +3. And just one shot ahead of that pair on +2 is the malfunctioning Scheffler, who three-putts the 6th. Are we blaming the haircut?
McIlroy glugs from an enormous water bottle as he waits at the 230-yard par-3 6th tee. Smart idea; it’s now over 90 degrees in North Carolina. His well-struck six-iron lands in the middle of the green but this is the hardest hole on the course today and you can see why as his ball springs off the rock-hard putting surface and tumbles away down a slope. More short-game wizardry needed. Scheffler finds the green although not within realistic birdie range but Schauffele – +1 alongside Scheffler – is maybe half a club short and his tee-shot rolls back off the front edge.
Updated
Rory McIlroy! From just short of the 5th green in three and perhaps looking at bogey-6, he pops up a beautifully-judged chip and then watches it land and arc gracefully into the hole for birdie. That’s back-to-back red numbers for the 2011 US Open winner and he’s now tied fourth. But Scheffler’s attempt to birdie the front nine’s only par 5 fails ends in failure as his putt from around eight feet drifts right. He stays at +1.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F)
-2: Finau (F), McIlroy (5)
English duo Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton are bowling along nicely. Both birdied their opener, the par-5 10th, and have followed that gain with three pars. Fleetwood has an excellent US Open record, boasting a second, a fourth and a fifth. But only once has he ended the first round better than tied 40th so a strong first 18 holes here and he’d definitely be in great position to kick on and get that first major win.
A little look at the stats to see how the three leaders put their rounds together. Cantlay currently ranks 1st for both Strokes Gained: Tee To Green and SG: Around The Green; Åberg is 1st for SG: Off The Tee; Pavon ranks 1st for SG: Putting and by quite a distance (+4.36) too. Cantlay and Åberg are both in the top 4 for SG: Approach while Pavon is only 56th in that category, suggesting the Frenchman’s round today had something of the smoke-and-mirrors about it. Meanwhile, Tom Hoge ranks 1st in SG: Whack The Flagstick as his approach at 13 smacks against the pin and rebounds some 50 feet away. Naturally, he three-putts from there for bogey to drop to +1. This bloody game.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F)
-2: Finau (F)
Scheffler seems to have found time for a haircut between being arrested, becoming a dad and winning golf tournaments. It’s hidden beneath his golf cap but wife Meredith or a local barber has definitely had a good go at his barnet. In other news, he’s expertly chipped up to kick-in range and will save par at 4 to stay at +1. Rory deserves a birdie after yet another fine approach and this time he knocks it in with aplomb from seven feet. That red number at 4 puts him -1 and that’s good enough for tied fifth.
Updated
A quick leaderboard upate. It’s thinned out a little at the top, with just four players at -2 or better. Cantlay’s record in the majors is curiously poor. Just four top 10s in 29 starts and only one of those was a top five: tied third in the 2019 US PGA. The 32-year-old has never managed better than 14th in a US Open but he’s laid himself a great foundation to beat that here and maybe much, much more. Back on the course and Scheffler’s approach from sandy scrub comes up short of the 4th green. Time to show those short-game skills Scottie.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F)
-2: Finau (F)
Thankyou sir. A mighty shift from Scott there. More entries than the Beatles in the 1964 Billboard chart. For my first entry, I’ll tell you that Scheffler has found some sandy scrub with his drive at the 4th. A messy start by your tournament favourite. Viktor Hovland, who looks like he’s escaped from the zoo (that shirt!), racks up double bogey at his second hole of the day (11) so that’s a 5-6 start.
… and with that, I’ll hand you over to David Tindall, who will take this blog home. Enjoy, enjoy, and see you tomorrow!
Greyson Sigg is always out of position on 14 after sending his tee shot into a fairway bunker. A dropped shot knocks him back to -1. Meanwhile the defending champion Wyndham Clark bogeys 2 after sending his tee shot wide left and clipping a tree with his backswing with his second. Then he pulls his third tee shot in a row at 3 into fairway sand. Given he required an up-and-down from a swale to par the opening hole, this is a pretty shaky start by Clark. Rory McIlroy can be forgiven for wondering where this Clark was on Sunday last year.
Scottie Scheffler’s driver hasn’t warmed up yet, and he fails to find the fairway again, this time at 1. He goes from fairway bunker to greenside bunker and splashes out conservatively to 14 feet. He underhits his putt and knows it from the moment he takes the stroke. He trudges after it in disappointment and the world number one’s first move of the week is a backwards one. He’s +1.
Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton are going around together this afternoon. Both have opened with birdies at 10. A reminder that of the last 14 US Opens, European golfers have won six to the USA’s eight. That’s some return for Europe when you consider Tony Jacklin (1970) was the only European to bring it over the briny between 1926 and 2009.
Max Homa creams his second at the 619-yard par-five 10th from the best part of 300 to seven feet. Wonderful use of the camber to the left of the green. But he misreads the eagle putt, and, well, you shouldn’t really be disappointed by opening a US Open tilt with birdie, but it’s probably fair to make an exception here. Such a stunning approach. Homa’s going around with Bryson DeChambeau and Viktor Hovland, who both open with pars.
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Another birdie putt for Rory McIlroy, another shaved lip. This time at 2. Frustrating on the one hand, but the early signs are promising. They’re very promising for the newly crowned PGA champion Xander Schauffele, though: his second at the long par-four 2nd, from 192 yards, ends up five feet from the hole, and he makes the birdie putt. Only the second of the day at this 508-yard behemoth. He’s -1.
A nervous start to the week by defending champion Wyndham Clark. He pulls his tee shot into filth down the left – nearly knocking a steward flying, as she jumps out of the way without full control of her feet – then sends his second down a swale to the right of the green. But a delicious chip up to kick-in distance will settle those jangling nerves. His form at the majors since winning at LA Country Club last year hasn’t been great, with cuts missed at this season’s Masters and PGA. So that will do him the world of good as he begins his quest to mount a proud defence.
Greyson Sigg has missed the cut in three of his last four starts on the PGA Tour. He’s also never broken 70 at a US Open in his two previous appearances. But he’s started well here, with birdies at 10 and 12 to pop up on the leaderboard early doors.
A par at the 18th for Matthieu Pavon. A round of 67 featuring two eagles, and that’s another dream debut at the US Open. Meanwhile back on 1, Rory McIlroy is stunned as what looked like a straight 12-foot birdie putt somehow kinks out on the right lip. A par to begin; ditto Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
-3: Pavon (F)
-2: Finau (F), Mack III (14*), Sigg (3*)
The 35-year-old qualifier Willie Mack III is making his US Open debut this week. He’s grabbing this belated opportunity with both hands, raking in a 40-footer across 5 for his third birdie of the day, following ones at 13 and 15. Just the one dropped stroke at 17. He’s -2 and could a fairytale story be unfolding for a player who spent a couple of years living in his Ford Mustang?
A disappointing end to the round for Tony Finau. That overly aggressive putt on 9 proves costly as he can’t make the par saver coming back. A diminuendo end and he looks as disappointed as you’d imagine, but soon he’ll be reflecting fondly on a fine 68 that positions him nicely. Especially when he considers the scores of some other big names: 73 for Matt Fitzpatrick, a 75 for Will Zalatoris, that 77 for Justin Thomas, 77 for Sahith Theegala as well, and 79 for Phil Mickelson.
The second wave are making their way onto the course, and the afternoon’s marquee group of Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and the world number-one Scottie Scheffler tee off at the 1st. They all take irons; they all whip them down the track. Coming up in the next group: the defending champion Wyndham Clark and Open champ Brian Harman. Excitement guaranteed!
Ludvig Åberg shoots 66
Åberg makes no mistake with his birdie putt on 9. No more than that smooth tee shot deserved. A 66! On debut at the US Open!
-5: Cantlay (F)
-4: Åberg (F)
Tony Finau’s tee shot at 9 looks average by comparison, 40 feet from the cup. He gives the uphill birdie putt a rare old whack, and it fizzes four feet past. He’ll have a tricky par putt coming back.
Ludvig Åberg hits the shot of the day so far at the par-three 9th. A towering iron fired straight at the flag from 187 yards, the ball landing dutifully six feet from the hole. A putt for a 66.
Patrick Cantlay shoots 65
Cantlay so very nearly drains his 25-footer across 9 but the ball dies to the right on its last turn. Just (!) a par and a 65. That ties the record for best US Open round at Pinehurst No2. Cantlay usually wears a poker face, but can’t stop a warm smile playing across it now. Such an impressive round, and he’s got the game to win a US Open all right.
-5: Cantlay (F)
-3: Finau (17*), Åberg (17*), Pavon (16)
Patrick Cantlay is on one hell of a tear-up. He sends his second at 8 from 176 yards to four feet. In goes the birdie putt, his fifth in nine holes, and having sent his second into the centre of the par-three 9th, he’ll have a putt for a 64, which would be the best round at Pinehurst No2 in US Open history. Meanwhile a bogey for Matthieu Pavon at 16: his second shot didn’t make it up the false front of the green, and he raced a putt from the apron eight feet past. It could have been worse – it was travelling but hit a coin, which possibly stopped it from sailing off the back – but he couldn’t take advantage of the good fortune by making the one coming back, and there goes a shot. All of a sudden, things look quite a lot different at the top.
-5: Cantlay (17*)
-3: Finau (16*), Åberg (16*), Pavon (16)
Tiger Woods signs for a four-over 74. A seven-over 77 meanwhile for Justin Thomas. As for Sergio, he’s in with a very impressive but thoroughly uncharacteristic one-under 69. One birdie and 17 pars. Positively Faldoesque, which is something we’ve never said about Garcia.
Collin Morikawa follows up his hole-out from sand on 17 by steering in a huge right-to-left swinger on 18 for a birdie-birdie finish! He ends up with a 70 and will be feeling very good about his round now. It’s a 70 for his playing partner Brooks Koepka too, but he won’t be quite as content, having shipped three strokes in the last six holes.
Birdie at 7 for Tony Finau. Deserved reward for a second shot sent from 157 yards to six feet. The 34-year-old Utah saint, whose best finish came at Shinnecock Hills in 2018, where he placed fifth, hasn’t been a presence in any of the majors in the last couple of years. But this looks promising for a very popular player.
-4: Cantlay (16*), Pavon (15)
-3: Finau (16*), Åberg (16*)
-2: Henley (16*)
Cameron Smith rolls in a 25-foot left-to-right slider on 9 for birdie, and the 2022 Open champion signs for a 71. A 71 for Seamus Power as well; the 37-year-old from Ireland recovered well from his four-putt fiasco on 18, three consecutive birdies between 3 and 5 repairing the damage and then some.
Collin Morikawa has struggled awfully on the par threes today. A double bogey on 9, another double bogey on 15. More pain looks on the cards at 17 as he sends his tee shot into sand, short-siding himself on the right. But he opens his wedge to the skies and holes out for birdie! Despite some uncharacteristically scrappy stuff from the erstwhile PGA and Open champion, he’s hung on in there and things suddenly don’t look so bad at +1.
Corey Conners started slowly. A double bogey at 2. That was cancelled out by eagle at 5, and though another bogey came along at 9, the 32-year-old Canadian kept plugging away, and with birdies at 13 and now 18, he signs for an impressive one-under-par opening round of 69. Conners has never survived the cut at the US Open in five previous attempts; he’s halfway there to finally making it at last. He’s the early clubhouse leader alongside SH Kim, the 25-year-old South Korean also carding 69 on his US Open debut.
Ludvig Åberg’s tee shot at the par-three 6th u-turns on the false front. Then he chips up carelessly, his ball landing well short of the hole, then left-turning towards the trap. It snags in the fringe. It’d have been better dropping in, because he’s got no stance, and does well to simply punch his third shot up onto the green, leaving a seven-foot putt for bogey. There was a real chance there of his falling backwards into the bunker, his ball rolling back in there as well. So something of a result, all things considered. He’ll feel a lot better if he can make the putt to limit the damage … and in it goes. That is staunch. It’s a bogey, but after the first two poor shots, it could have been more of a disaster. He’s -3.
A third bogey in four holes for Brooks Koepka. This really didn’t look on the cards when he was sauntering through the first 10. This one’s the result of another drive lost to the right, forcing him to hack out of thick scrub at 16. He nearly escapes with par after wedging from 70 yards to seven feet, but his putt stubbornly stays up. Back to level par, which is no disaster, but it’s been a topsy-turvy journey.
Updated
Mixed fortunes for Patrick Cantlay and Russell Henley at the long par-three 6th. The former drains a 20-footer for a share of the lead; the latter misses a par putt from four feet to slip to -1. All of a sudden, a little bit of separation at the top.
-4: Cantlay (15*), Åberg (14), Pavon (13)
-2: Finau (14*), Shipley -a- (13), E Molinari (12*)
Some news of those mentioned in early dispatches. Logan McAllister, who led the tournament for a while this morning, recovered from that careless double bogey at 11 by parring his way home. He signs for a level-par 70, and will be in good nick going into tomorrow. Northern Irish prodigy Tom McKibbin, who had started so promisingly, slipped to a 74. And poor Matteo Manassero never recovered from that opening triple-bogey eight, ending up carding 79.
Ludvig Åberg moves into a share of that lead. He nearly drains a putt from the bottom of the swale to the right of 5. Eagle would have been a dream, but birdie will more than suffice, and the young man from Sweden, playing in the US Open for the very first time, is making things look easy. It’s the US Open, so it surely won’t last, but then we said the same thing about Martin Kaymer on Thursday and Friday ten years ago, and look what happened there.
-4: Åberg (14*), Pavon (13)
-3: Cantlay (14*)
-2: Henley (14*), Finau (14*), Shipley -a- (12), E Molinari (12*)
-1: Garcia (16), Koepka (15), Kim (13), Thompson (11*), Salinda (10), Rai (10*), Mack III (10*)
Neal Shipley won the Silver Cup for low amateur at this year’s Masters. What’s more, he did so by going round on Sunday with Tiger Woods, outscoring him 73 to the living legend’s 77. He’s outscoring Woods again today. As Tiger toils at +3, the 23-year-old college student from Pittsburgh has just followed up birdie at 10 with another at 12 to move to -2. He’s just two off the lead!
Koepka gives his par effort an aggressive roll. It slides by on the right, leaving a testing three-footer coming back. He makes it for bogey, while Morikawa tidies up for his double-bogey five. Koepka is -1, Morikawa +2. Pinehurst beginning to really bare its teeth now, as the sun bakes the course. The players will be pleased to hear the USGA plan to chuck a bit of water on the greens every evening. Sweet small mercies.
Before Brooks Koepka can attempt his ten-foot par saver, Collin Morikawa putts up the swale … and watches in horror as his ball topples back down. A second attempt is much better, but he’ll need to make the three-footer that remains for double. Meanwhile over on 5, Ludvig Åberg sends his second pin high, but the ball topples off the back.
Up on the 5th green, Patrick Cantlay nearly drains an eagle putt from the fringe at the back. It’s a tap-in birdie that moves him up to -3. Going the other way, his playing partner Russell Henley, who skips in frustration after pulling a par putt wide left from eight feet. And on 15, Brooks Koepka, having watched his playing partner Collin Morikawa duff a chip from a similar position back left, opts to take putter and only just gets up onto the green.
… so having called Brooks Koepka unflappable, he pulls his tee shot at the par-three 15th over the back-left of the green. Rackin’ up those Pulitzers over here! Meanwhile over on 5, Ludvig Åberg hits his 12th fairway out of 12 today. This is the sort of behaviour that can win you a US Open.
Brooks Koepka elegantly splashes out from the sand on 14. He salvages a kick-in par. That’s his second successful scramble from a tight spot in a trap in four holes. These are the sort of things that make a difference come Sunday. The man’s unflappable. He remains -2. Meanwhile there’s another special save, this one by Matthieu Pavon on 12. Having pulled his second down a swale back left of the green, he chips up to 15 feet, then confidently rams in the putt. He’s still one clear of Russell Henley and Ludvig Åberg at -4.
Updated
Of all the former US Open champions out there this morning, Brooks Koepka is the only one of them currently under par. For now, anyway. Having just made a three-putt bogey on 12, the 2017 and 2018 champ has sent his ball into a greenside bunker to the left of 14 from the centre of the fairway. Not the sort of unforced error he makes too often. He drops his head in irritation. One of those other erstwhile champs, Tiger Woods, birdies 5 to halt the decline; he’s back to +3. Meanwhile Matt Fitzpatrick and Justin Rose are +2, Lucas Glover is +3, and Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland and Webb Simpson are +4.
A first mistake of the day by Brooks Koepka is followed by a first mistake by Matthieu Pavon. He pulls his second at 11 into a greenside bunker, from which he can’t get up and down.
-4: Pavon (11)
-3: Henley (12*), Åberg (12*)
-2: Koepka (13), Cantlay (12*), E Molinari (10*)
A rare mistake by Brooks Koepka. His 50-foot birdie putt across 13 trundles 15 feet past. His ball very nearly topples off the green. He’s spared that indignity, but can’t make the one coming back up the hill, and that’s a careless three-putt bogey. The two-time champ slips back to -2.
Oh Tiger. He lets his short putt on 4 turn meekly to the left and that’s another dropped shot. He’s +4 and feeling the heat, perhaps literally. A lot of younger men than Tiger struggling out there under the blazing North Carolina sun. Matteo Manassero, for example, 17 years Tiger’s junior at 31; he’s just bogeyed 4, 5 and 6 and props up the entire field right now at +9. Just above him, Phil Mickelson, who has just dropped a shot at 11 to slip to +7.
A second eagle of the day for Matthieu Pavon! This one’s poured in from 27 feet at 10, and he acknowledges the latest roar with an insouciant wave. A reminder that this is Pavon’s first season on the PGA Tour, and he’s already become the first French golfer to win a tournament on it since 1907 (!) and tied for 12th at the Masters. Now look! Another birdie for Russell Henley, meanwhile, this time at 3 after yet another dart at the flag, and it’s all change at the top.
-5: Pavon (10)
-3: Koepka (12), Henley (12*), Åberg (12*)
Updated
Trouble for Tiger at 4. Having made a third consecutive bogey at 2, he could do with a little something to stem the tide. But he carves his second into the gallery down the right. It’s not clear whether he gets a lucky or unlucky bounce off somebody’s bag, because while his ball was heading into deep trouble and pings back left, it only does so towards a patch of downhill dirt behind a bunker. He’d have rather been in the trap. But he manufactures a glorious wedge over the sand and into the front of the green, rolling it out to four feet. From where he was, that was little short of miraculous, and unless he does something silly with the straight putt he’s left with, he’ll remain at +3. A turning point?
Ludvig Åberg so nearly makes it three birdies on the bounce. But his 35-foot putt on 2 shaves the right-hand lip and stays out. He remains in a share of the lead at -3.
Just sensational stuff from Brooks Koepka. He opens his sand wedge to the heavens, swings hard yet soft, and lands his sand shot to three feet. He had hardly any green to work with there, but escapes with his par. Sheer brilliance, though two successive drives sent into trouble will give him a little pause for thought during an otherwise flawless round. And yes, here he goes, crashing his tee shot at 12 down the middle. The five-time major champion isn’t making the same mistake thrice. He’s -3.
We’ve already mentioned Sergio, but you’ll have noticed another old Guardian-golf-blog favourite popping up on the leaderboard there. Rickie Fowler came joint second here in 2014 with Erik Compton, Martin Kaymer having smoked the field early doors with a blistering first two rounds of 65. He clearly responds well to Pinehurst No2, because he’s been enjoying himself today, out in an eventful 35 strokes, level par but with three bogeys and birdies on his card. A fourth birdie at the par-five 10th takes him into red figures, and would there be a more popular winner than one of the game’s nice guys, so often a major-championship nearly man? No, surely no. But what’s this? He’s 35 years old? 35? The super-cool spring chicken Rickie Fowler is 35? How did that happen? Oh man. Oh mercy.
Ludvig Åberg makes it back-to-back birdies. Having clipped an approach close at 18, he does the same at 1, and tidies up without fuss. He joins the leaders. Meanwhile on 11, Brooks Koepka catches another half-decent lie in the scrub, but pulls his second into a bunker to the left of the pin. Had that landed on the green a couple of feet to the right, it would have been pin high and a decent birdie chance. As it is, the camber collects the ball into the trap, where he’s short-sided. An up-and-down for par will be a hell of a result if he can manage it.
-3: Koepka (10), Åberg (10*), Pavon (8)
-2: Cantlay (10*), Henley (10*), Finau (10*), Molinari (7*), Mack III (6*), Salinda (5)
-1: Garcia (11), Fowler (10), Thompson (6*), Blair (6*)
Suggesting Brooks Koepka was in near-complete control of his game may have been premature. Pulitzer, please! Having carved his tee shot at 10 into trouble down the right, but got away with it, he does the same at 11. He might not have got away with this one. We’ll see. Meanwhile back-to-back birdies at 18 and 1 for Patrick Cantlay, who moves to -2. And Matthieu Pavon walks one in at 8 to join Koepka at the top! You never know, the 31-year-old late-blooming Frenchman could be the sole leader soon, depending on the scrambling skills of Brooks.
-3: Koepka (10), Pavon (8)
-2: Cantlay (10*), Henley (10*), Finau (9*), Åberg (9*), Molinari (7*), Mack III (6*), Salinda (5)
… but a six-way tie couldn’t last. It didn’t last! Brooks Koepka gets a lucky break after an errant drive down the right of 10. He’s able to whip back into play from a clean lie, reaches the green in regulation, then drains a 30-footer to hit the lead on his own again. The big man looks in the mood, and in near-complete control of his game.
-3: Koepka (10)
-2: Finau (9*), Åberg (9*), Pavon (7), Molinari (7*), Salinda (5)
Updated
Another player eagles the par-five 5th; another joins the leaders. Isaiah Salinda, a 27-year-old qualifier who plays on the Korn Ferry Tour, is the latest to get there. He’s played in the US Open once before, at Brookline two years ago, and missed the cut. Not long after, Tony Finau curls in a long right-to-left swinger on 18, while his playing partner Ludvig Åberg wedges from 120 yards to four feet; their birdies take them into a share of the lead as well. And Edoardo Molinari rakes in 40-footers on 14 and 16 to join the gang. There were two players at the top a couple of minutes ago. Now look!
-2: Koepka (9), Finau (9*), Åberg (9*), Pavon (7), Molinari (7*), Salinda (5)
Tiger Woods is struggling to work out the pace of these greens. He leaves his first putt on 1, from 40 feet, ten feet short, then pulls his second wide left. A second three-putt in three holes: the last one, on 17, was the result of sending a 60-footer fen feet past. He’s now +2 and all of a sudden, having tapped into his imperial-phase scrambling mode earlier on, Tiger looks 48 again.
Collin Morikawa can’t get up and down from the apron at the front of 9. A double bogey, and what was shaping up to be a sweet front nine turns sour in a flash. The former Open and PGA champion is +1. Meanwhile his playing partner Brooks Koepka nearly drains a 20-footer for birdie, but is more than happy to kick in for par and turn in 33. With his temperament, track record and grinding ability, not to mention that delightful short game, Koepka could take some beating this week. The third member of the high-profile group, Justin Thomas, tidies up for par and a front nine of 38.
Having made a second consecutive bogey at 17, with a careless three-putt, Tiger Woods pars 18 to turn in one-over 36. Having opened so impressively with birdie, then making a series of peak-era up and downs, he’s clearly frustrated at having let things slip towards the end of the back nine. Probably best to remind himself how tough Pinehurst is playing this morning, a fact further illustrated by the travails of Collin Morikawa on 9. Splashing out from a greenside bunker with the face of his club pointing at the sky, his ball nevertheless rolls past the pin, taking a huge right-hand turn before rolling off the front of the green. His playing partner Justin Thomas turns up the pain by demonstrating how to do it, swishing a similar shot to three feet.
One of the LIV rebels is going along nicely in Brooks Koepka. Another LIV star and former champion, Dustin Johnson … well, not so much. DJ bogeys 12 and now 15 to slip to +2. Meanwhile the nightmare continues for Sahith Theegala, who doubles the par-three 6th and is now +7 already.
Mid-morning reading. To go with a lovely cup of tea.
Matthieu Pavon becomes the third player to eagle 5. The 31-year-old Frenchman, who won his first PGA Tour title in January at the Farmers Insurance Open, and finished tied for 12th at this year’s Masters, joins Brooks Koepka in the lead. Going the other way, as expected, Logan McAllister, who takes two putts from 40 feet on 11 and cards a double bogey. He’ll be wishing he chipped out sideways with his second shot, instead of going for the green and nearly hooking out of bounds.
-2: Koepka (7), Pavon (5)
-1: Kjettrup (10), Widing (9*), Garcia (8), Morikawa (7), Henley (7*), Finau (6*), Åberg (6*), Shipley -a- (4), Rai (3*), Thompson (3*)
Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa take turns to throw darts at the flag on 7. Koepka makes his birdie from seven feet to join Logan McAllister in the lead at -2; Morikawa should join him, but yips from three feet to remain at -1. That’s a shocker. Koepka will be in the lead on his own soon, too, because McAllister is in all sorts on 11, having found rough vegetation down the left, then nearly hacking his second out of bounds. He can only advance his next shot halfway towards the green. He’s staring a double or worse in the face.
Updated
The US Open dream of Phil Mickelson is officially in Pipe territory. Bogeys at 1, 2, 3, 4 and now 6, and the six-time runner-up will always have Muirfield. And Kiawah Island. And Augusta (x3). He’s +5.
A poor tee shot by Tiger Woods at the monster par-four 16th – it’s 523 yards long – and that’s the great man’s first dropped stroke of the day. He’s back to level par and mighty irritable right now. Meanwhile disaster for very early leader Seamus Power on 18; he four-putts 18 from 30 feet, the last three taken from ten, and that’s a double bogey out of nowhere. He’s +2 and it can happen to the best of them. He won’t be the last.
Brooks Koepka spurns a great chance to nudge himself into the lead. Having just birdied the par-five 5th, he sends his tee shot at the par-three 6th pin high to ten feet, only to pull his straight putt a little to the left. The 2017 and 2018 winner remains at -1. But here comes Logan McAllister, pouring one in from 25 feet on 10 to regain the lead he held just over half an hour ago!
-2: McAllister (10)
-1: 14 players, and well, y’know
Updated
Seventeen players are now tied for the lead at -1. This is because Ludvig Åberg’s approach at 14 trickles into a bunker to the right of the green, and he fails to get up and down from the sand. That’s a shame, because his shot in was inches away from rolling towards the flag, only for the camber to gather it into the trap. That’s Pinehurst, and there goes his sole ownership of the lead.
Sahith Theegala came close at the PGA last month at Valhalla. Rounds of 65, 67 and 67 put him a shot off the lead going into Sunday, only for the 26-year-old Californian to fall off the pace with a final round of 73. A similar title tilt doesn’t look on the cards this week, though. A dreadful start of 5-5-6-5 and he’s +5, his challenge scuppered barely an hour after the get-go.
Sergio! Our old pal, Señor Garcia, has five top-ten finishes at the US Open, and the best of them, a tie for third, came here at Pinehurst in 2005. Having started today’s round – and this isn’t a word normally associated with Sergio – steadily, with four pars, he nearly holes out from a greenside bunker at the par-five 5th to join the pack at -1. Meanwhile on 13, the leader Åberg is this close to draining a 25-footer for a third consecutive birdie, but it wasn’t to me, and he remains at -2.
Will Zalatoris, the 2022 runner-up, slayed by that Matt Fitzpatrick bunker shot at Brookline, hadn’t started well. Swale-infused bogeys at 10 and 13. But he’s just walked in a 30-footer at 14 to clamber back to +1. There wouldn’t be too many more popular winners, given all of his serious back troubles, a highly promising career still in its infancy suffering serious jeopardy. As for his playing partners today, that man Fitzpatrick pars to remain at +1, while Tiger has a ten-footer for birdie but lets it slip by on the low side. He’s -1, and a study in annoyance having just spurned a great chance to join Åberg in the lead.
… on 8, Logan McAllister misses a ten-foot par saver, and Åberg is alone at the top! Not a bad way to start your US Open career. But then should we expect anything else? In the last 100 years, only two men have bettered his major-championship debut result, a second-place finish at this year’s Masters: Ben Curtis and Keegan Bradley, who won the 2003 Open and 2011 PGA respectively.
-2: Åberg (3*)
-1: 12 players, and life is too short
Updated
Another superb up-and-down save by Tiger! He sends his tee shot at 13 bounding over the back. He’s shortsided, so elects to putt up. Perhaps wary of the ball toppling back to his feet, he gives it a good old clack. Ten feet past. But he rattles in the one coming back, and remains at -1. Meanwhile back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 for Ludvig Åberg – making only his third appearance in a major, and his first at a US Open – and the brilliant young Swede grabs a share of the lead at -2! No point my putting up a revised leaderboard, though, because …
A word on the weather. And that word is hot. It’s going to be sunny all week in this corner of North Carolina, with temperatures in the 90s, possibly touching 100°F at times, depending on which forecast you trust the most. There’s also an outside chance of thunderstorms tomorrow and Saturday afternoon. Fingers crossed they swerve this cradle of golf. Whatever happens, though, expect the course to get – and play - even harder. The USGA won’t be cutting the greens too closely over the weekend, surely; there’s trademark US Open sadism and then there’s trademark US Open sadism.
One of the great exercises in damage limitation by the two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas. At 3, he sends a wild second shot 50 yards left of the green. He’s allowed a free drop in the native area, as a grandstand is in the way, but there’s still no route to the green that won’t see the ball bound off over the back. Instead of attempting the near-impossible, he takes his medicine by deliberately chipping into the bunker in front of him, and trusting his sand game to get him up and down for bogey. Which it does. An excellent splash to a couple of feet, and he tidies up. That follows a bogey at 2, so not an ideal start for JT, but it could have been a whole lot worse. He’s +2.
Matt Fitzpatrick finds fairway sand at 12, then pulls his second miles left of the green. He can’t get up and down and drops another stroke. He’s +1. His playing partner Tiger Woods hits an equally poor approach, leaving a long bunker shot, but he chips up to ten feet and nails the par saver to remain at -1.
Patrick Cantlay splashes out confidently from a greenside bunker at 11 to join the group at -1. Meanwhile Frederik Kjettrup, a 24-year-old qualifier from Denmark, freshly out of Florida State, strides after his 30-foot putt on 5. In it drops for the second eagle of the morning, and having bounced back in perfect fashion from a dropped stroke at 4, moves to -1 as well.
Updated
It all goes wrong for Tom McKibbin at the par-three 15th. His tee shot doesn’t make it over the false front of the green. Then what looks like a delicate chip up trundles through the green and over the back. He can only get his third to 15 feet, and the bogey putt is always missing on the right. Falling just the wrong side of some fine lines with each shot, and suddenly that’s a double bogey and the 21-year-old Northern Irish prospect is suddenly back in the pack at +1.
An opening bogey for the six-time runner-up Phil Mickelson, the result of an errant drive on 1. Matteo Manassero’s woes continue: he follows up his triple bogey at 10 with a double at 12 and now bogey at 14. He props up the early leaderboard at +6, but you can bet your last buck someone will be joining him down there soon enough. Meanwhile up the other end, another early starter hits the front: Logan McAllister, a 24-year-old qualifier from Oklahoma making his US Open debut, hits a sensational second at the par-five 5th from 254 yards to seven feet, then steers in the putt to card the first eagle of the week.
-2: McAllister (5)
-1: McKibbin (5*), Power (4*), Morales -a- (3), Widing (3*), Woods (2*), Kuchar (1*), Finau (1*)
A similar fate befalls Matt Fitzpatrick on 11. His ball lands softly in the centre of the green … but not softly enough to hold on. Over the back he goes, and his putt up the bank almost comes back to his feet. He decides to chip second time around, and screeches his ball to a halt four feet from the flag. Possibly what he should have done the first time around. He rolls in the putt to limit the damage to bogey, and he’s back to level par. Meanwhile over on 14, McKibbin chips up to eight feet then walks in the par saver. This already feels like a proper US Open. Brutal but brilliantly entertaining.
An opening birdie for major-title nearly man Matt Kuchar at the par-five 10th. Up on 14, meanwhile, a first test of patience for Tom McKibbin, who looks to have sent a perfect second into the green, only for the ball to slo-o-o-owly topple off down a bank to the right. With not much green to work with, he’s got some work ahead if he’s to get up and down from there.
Tiger Woods is out early, and the three-time champion hasn’t taken long to make his mark. He sends his second at the par-five 10th into the tatty scrub to the right of the fairway. But he wedges his third from 60 yards to 12 feet, then walks in the birdie putt. He’s not lost it. Birdie too for the 2022 champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who is going round with Woods today. And up on 13, a birdie for Tom McKibbin, the 21-year-old from Holywood, the same club a certain Rory McIlroy played as a young pup. He’s already got the European Open on his CV, and some folk will tell you he has the potential to go as far, perhaps even further, as the 2011 champion. Well, making his major debut this week, he’s off to a good start.
-1: McKibbin (4*), Power (3*), Morales -a- (2), Woods (1*), Fitzpatrick (1*)
Updated
Seamus Power, who tied for 12th at Brookline a couple of years ago, birdies 11 to join the lads at -1. On Sky, pundit Rich Beem explains how the way Pinehurst is set up – not so much in the way of particularly penal rough, but lots of sand and scrub, and turtle-back greens with lots of dramatic run-off – could play into the soft hands of another Irish star, Shane Lowry. A top-drawer chipping game, and a reputation for being able to conjure something up to get out of bother, is a positive boon this week. Here, that being said, how about Jordan Spieth, who may be out of form and a 66-1 outsider in some places, but has Seve-esque escapology skills, and won at Chambers Bay in 2015 when the ball was rolling all over the shop? Each-way could be your friend.
… so there’s something rather sweet about the first birdies of the week being made by amateurs! Parker Bell, a 20-year-old who plays for the University of Florida, birdied 1, some way to begin your debut round at a US Open; the 21-year-old Mexican Omar Morales, playing in his second consecutive US Open, soon matched the feat. It can’t last – it won’t last – so it’s only fair to mark their achievement with the first leaderboard of the week.
-1: Bell -a- (1), Morales -a- (1)
As the sun rose, Carter Jenkins, Logan McAllister and Michael McGowan took the first shots of this tournament at the 1st. Meanwhile over on 10, Rico Hoey, Matteo Manassero and Tom McKibbin were starting out at 10. With much discussion regarding the difficulty of Pinehurst No.2 this week, it’s perhaps instructive to note that of the six players mentioned above, only McAllister and McKibben managed par. Jenkins made bogey, Hoey and McGowan doubled, and Manassero began his round with a triple-bogey eight, the result of a putt from the bottom of a swale coming back to his feet. Welcome to the US Open, ladies and gentlemen!
Preamble
The world number one Scottie Scheffler is the very short-priced to win his first US Open and his sixth PGA Tour event in his last nine starts. He’s already got this year’s Masters Tournament and Players Championship in the bag, and let’s be honest, there’s a fair chance he’d have landed the PGA Championship too, had he not been farcically arrested on the Friday morning, and had the Tour chaplain standing in for his regular caddie on Saturday. The man’s as cool as a long glass of Arnold Palmer on the porch in the summer shade. If he’s not in the mix come Sunday afternoon, it’ll be a surprise.
Then again, the US Open is golf’s hardest test, and can make a mug of anyone. (The defending champion Wyndham Clark has been pointing out to anyone that will listen that the hard, fast, domed greens are “borderline”, so expect some high-jinks.) It’s a tournament that often throws up a surprise winner – Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, Gary Woodland, Graeme McDowell and, at the last two US Opens held at Pinehurst, Michael Campbell and Martin Kaymer – so take your pick from a star-packed field. The usual suspects will of course fancy their chances – Scheffler, the new PGA champ Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy, the resurgent Collin Morikawa, Viktor and Ludvig, Bryson and Brooks – so there’s plenty of potential for a major for the ages.
Here are the tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST, (a) denotes amateurs). It’s on!
Starting at hole 1
1145 Carter Jenkins, Logan McAllister, Michael McGowan
1156 (a) Parker Bell, Frederik Kjettrup (Den), Christopher Petefish
1207 Max Greyserman, Casey Jarvis (Rsa), (a) Omar Morales (Mex)
1218 Corey Conners (Can), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Stephan Jaeger (Ger)
1229 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn), Francesco Molinari (Ita)
1240 Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas
1251 Rickie Fowler, Adam Hadwin (Can), Phil Mickelson
1302 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Sahith Theegala
1313 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Matthieu Pavon (Fra)
1324 Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Robert Rock (Eng), (a) Neal Shipley
1335 (a) Stewart Hagestad, Takumi Kanaya (Jpn), Mac Meissner
1346 Jim Herman, (a) Bryan Kim, Isaiah Salinda
1357 (a) Colin Prater, Charles Reiter, Carson Schaake
1730 Brandon Thompson (Eng), Jason Scrivener (Aus), (a) Brendan Valdes
1741 Sam Bairstow (Eng), (a) Santiago De la Fuente (Mex), Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra (Spa)
1752 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Kurt Kitayama, Taylor Moore
1803 Jason Day (Aus), Harris English, Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor)
1814 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler
1825 Wyndham Clark, Nick Dunlap, Brian Harman
1836 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Jon Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth
1847 Keegan Bradley, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Shane Lowry (Irl)
1858 Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa)
1909 Alexander Noren (Swe), Taylor Pendrith (Can), Brendon Todd
1920 (a) Jackson Buchanan, Brian Campbell, Thomas Detry (Bel)
1931 (a) Gunnar Broin, Maxwell Moldovan, Taisei Shimuzu (Jpn)
1942 John Chin, Sung-Hoon Kang (Kor), Riki Kawamoto (Jpn)
Starting at hole 10
1145 Rico Hoey (Phi), Matteo Manassero (Ita), Tom McKibbin (NIrl)
1156 Dean Burmester (Rsa), Rikuya Hoshino (Jpn), Seamus Power (Irl)
1207 Seong-Hyeon Kim (Kor), Justin Lower, Tim Widing (Swe)
1218 Sam Burns, Lucas Glover, Cameron Smith (Aus)
1229 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Tiger Woods, Will Zalatoris
1240 Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Matt Kuchar
1251 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson
1302 Justin Rose (Eng), Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland
1313 Daniel Berger, Ryan Fox (Nzl), David Puig (Spa)
1324 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Sam Bennett, Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
1335 Cameron Davis (Aus), Austin Eckroat, Adrian Meronk (Pol)
1346 Zachary Blair, Aaron Rai (Eng), Davis Thompson
1357 Willie Mack III, Richard Mansell (Eng), (a) Ashton McCulloch (Can)
1730 Grant Forrest (Sco), Greyson Sigg, (a) Wells Williams
1741 Chesson Hadley, Mark Hubbard, Adam Svensson (Can)
1752 Beau Hossler, Victor Perez (Fra), Adam Schenk
1803 Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Nick Taylor (Can)
1814 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Tom Hoge
1825 Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland (Nor)
1836 Peter Malnati, J. T. Poston, Sepp Straka (Aut)
1847 Jake Knapp, (a) Gordon Sargent, Cameron Young
1858 Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, Adam Scott (Aus)
1909 (a) Benjamin James, Ben Kohles, Denny McCarthy
1920 Frankie Capan, (a) Luke Clanton, Andrew Svoboda
1931 Harry Higgs, (a) Hiroshi Tai (Sgp), Brandon Wu
1942 Otto Black, Chris Naegel, Joey Vrzich
