LOS ANGELES – On the 50th anniversary of Johnny Miller shooting 63 to win the 1973 U.S. Open, two Southern California natives shattered the mark within 22 minutes of each other, posting rounds of 8-under 62 at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course to share the opening-round lead at the 123rd U.S. Open.
Rickie Fowler, 34, of Murrieta, California, carded 10 birdies and two bogeys to set the mark, but it didn’t take long for him to have company as Xander Schauffele, 29, of San Diego, matched the historic 62 with a bogey-free performance.
“It’s not really what you expect playing a U.S. Open,” said Schauffele of how he and Fowler shot five strokes better than the next best score in the morning wave. “But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard. Glad he was just in front of me.”
U.S. Open: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole
There had been 66,448 rounds in majors since 1983 and just one 62 before Thursday’s opening round at LACC. The pair of 62’s matched the all-time lowest 18-hole score in any of the four men’s majors, previously belonging solely to South Africa’s Branden Grace, who set the mark in the third round of the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale.
“It was a great day,” Fowler said. “Close to a dream start.”
Do this again tomorrow @RickieFowler ? https://t.co/7eY2SFH91u
— Xander Schauffele (@XSchauffele) June 15, 2023
Playing two groups behind Fowler, Schauffele had a 24-foot birdie putt on his closing hole for 61.
“I think the USGA will be a bit frustrated that the number was that low today. I don’t think you’ll be seeing too much of that over the weekend,” said world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. “I didn’t see 8-under out there today.”
Schauffele, No. 6 in the world, is making his seventh start at the U.S. Open and hasn’t finished outside the top 15 in the championship — T-14 last year, with the other five finishes all in the top seven. Schauffele took advantage of a cloud-covered day where the marine layer never burned off in the morning, making for good scoring conditions and allowing for aggressive play.
“The sun didn’t come out and it was misting this morning, so I’d say the greens held a little bit more moisture than anticipated for myself at least,” Schauffele said. “I think it made the greens sort of that more holeable speed almost, and then coming into greens you’re able to pull some wedges back. And then the fairways are a little bit softer, too, because of that sort of overcast, and without the sun out it’s not drying out much. I think fairways are easier to hit and greens are a little bit softer.”
Handwritten history #USOpen pic.twitter.com/5q9HLTzycc
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2023
Schauffele capped off his birdie barrage with birdies at two of his last three holes. At No. 7, he drew what he called “a tomahawk 4-iron” to the 258-yard par-3, which rolled inside 10 feet.
“That’s pretty much all I have in my body,” he said.
Schauffele is the only player with a top-20 finish in each of the last five majors (finished T-13 at the 2022 PGA Championship, followed by finishing T-14 at the U.S. Open at The Country Club, T-15 at The Open Championship at St. Andrews, T-10 at the 2023 Masters and T-18 at Oak Hill last month). Like Fowler, Schauffele’s bidding for his first major title, but knows that there is much more work to be done. As reporters interviewed Schauffele’s caddie Austin Kaiser about his historic round, Schauffele stepped in and said to him, “Dude, it’s just Thursday, my man.”
But if either Schauffele or Fowler shoot 67 or lower on Friday, they will also own the 36-hole U.S. Open scoring mark too.
“I’m anticipating the sun to come out just as much as every West Coast person out here,” Schauffele said. “I’m thinking the course is going to firm up a little bit.”
