Key events
Scottie Scheffler doesn’t panic. His tee shot at 16 topples into the thick greenside rough, and this time his chip out is severely underhit. He’s left with a 12-footer to avoid back-to-back bogeys. He calmly sizes it up, and rattles it straight into the middle of the cup. He remains at +3, hanging on in there, waiting for his best stuff, which will surely come along sooner or later.
Corey Conners had never made the cut at the US Open until last year. Five appearances, five misses, then a top-ten finish at Pinehurst. He’s clearly developing a taste for this tournament, as he shot 72 yesterday and has opened his round today with birdies at 11 and 14. The 33-year-old Canadian is level par.
Another bogey for Im Sung-jae. He can’t get up and down from greenside sand at 5, and slips back to level par. There are now just seven players under par. One of those is Brooks Koepka, who makes an outrageous birdie at the drivable 17th. His tee shot ends up on a downslope in front of a greenside bunker. It’s covered in filthy rough. He’s chipping over sand, and shortsided, the flag tucked in a nook behind the trap. So he crisply whips over the bunker, his ball landing an inch shy of the fringe, then squirting out of the thick stuff and onto it. One more inch, and that would surely have been close, one of the shots of the week. It’s still pretty darn good, and from the fringe he delicately chips in. Sheer artistry. Brooks back to within a shot!
-4: Spaun
-3: Koepka (8*), Lawrence
-2: S Kim
-1: Hovland (6*), B Griffin, Detry
… so having given Scottie the big set-up, he clatters a clumsy chip 20 feet past the cup. He was clinging to the side of a steep greenside bank, one foot planted high above the other, but the lie was decent, and you’d expect him to do so much better. He can’t make the putt coming back, and that’s his first bogey of the day. Pretty much what the drive deserved, if we’re being honest, but nine times out of ten you’d expect him to get up and down from that position and get away with it. He’s back where he started the day at +3.
Golf Is Hard II. Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, slips mid-drive at 15. His feet slide all over the shop, his shoulders shudder, his arms jingle and jangle independently of each other. Legs kinked in both directions. A final baroque flourish with the hands, as though he’s trying to draw a treble clef in mid-air. Imagine Jarvis Cocker trying to play golf. Very strange. He’s lucky to find sand instead of knee-high rough, then sends his next shot into the heart of the green. Of course he does. It topples off the side, and he’ll have work to do to get up and down from the thick surround for his par, but that’s pretty much the best he could expect from where he found himself. Amazing how he can keep calm and reset so quickly.
It Could Be Worse dept. Spare a thought for poor Will Chandler. The 28-year-old from Georgia made his US Open debut yesterday and shot 78. That eight-over struggle will feel like Salad Days today. He’s just played the front nine in 47 strokes, 12-over for his round. Two pars, four bogeys, two double bogeys and a quadruple. He opened 6-6-8-6. Adding insult to injury, he set himself up with a birdie chance on 9, sending an iron from 163 yards to six feet, only to miss the putt. He’s +20. Golf is hard.
James Nicholas came in very late last night with a 69. Not too shabby a first-ever round in US Open competition for the 28-year-old from New York state. But he’s started scrappily this morning. A double-bogey six on 1, the result of finding sand off the tee, then a missed short putt. He’s +1 and now there are just eight players under par for the tournament.
-4: Spaun
-3: Lawrence
-2: Koepka (6*), S Kim
-1: Im (4), Hovland (4*), B Griffin, Detry
Scottie Scheffler chips delicately out of the thick greenside rough at 13. Up to four feet, and he makes his par saver. Viktor Hovland can’t find the cup with his left-to-right birdie slider, though. He remains at -1. But some trouble for Brooks Koepka on 15, where his tee shot disappears into a penalty zone to the right of the fairway. He’s able to swipe it back out, mind, but can only send his approach to 20 feet. In fact he’s fairly fortunate his ball doesn’t topple back down the false front. In the end, he nearly drains the par putt, but that’s his second bogey of the day. Back to -2 for Brooks.
Jon Rahm considers throwing a little tanty. A birdie chance on 4 from six feet. Having been given a good read by Jordan Spieth, whose ball kinks off to the left on its final turn, he learns nothing whatsoever, repeating the mistake but from significantly shorter distance. He batters the ground with the bottom of his putter but then takes a deep breath, and a moment to reflect, before tidying up for par. He remains at level par. Hey, he’s often at his best when he runs hot. Opening bogey for Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, meanwhile; the young Dane drops to level par and off our leaderboard.
-4: Spaun
-3: Koepka (5*), Lawrence
-2: S Kim
-1: Im (3), Hovland (3*), B Griffin, Detry, Nicholas
In the group behind Burns: Viktor Hovland. And he’s started fast as well. He follows his aforementioned birdie at 10 with another at the par-five 12th. He’s -1. Now he’s sent a lovely iron into the heart of the par-three 13th to set up another birdie chance from 12 feet. Problems for his playing partner Scottie Scheffler, though; his tee shot doesn’t quite reach the green and sticks in the thick surround. That won’t be an easy chip.
Sam Burns suffered a nightmare finish last night: 5-5-5-5, the last four holes played in five-over par. He signed for a 72 that had promised so much more. But last week’s Canadian Open runner-up has repaired much of the damage in short order, with birdies at 11 and now 13. He’s back to level par and suddenly looking much happier with life.
Ryan Fox is having a rare old caper. Birdie, bogey, par, birdie, bogey, birdie. The last two holes illustrate the up-and-down nature of his round. On 14, he zig-zags up the hole and is left with a 50-footer for par. He races that 12 feet past the hole … then makes the one coming back to limit the damage. Then on 15, he sends a 200-yard fairway-bunker shot to eight feet, and tidies up for birdie. Up and down all right. He’s +1 and still high on life after his Canadian Open win and that 3-wood.
Jon Rahm makes his par at 3, having visited the 4th fairway, then finds the same stretch of short grass again with his next tee shot. His partner Jordan Spieth meanwhile could do with finding a fairway or two: he sends his effort from the tee box into more oomska, and he’s going to run up quite the score if his driver keeps behaving like this.
Probably shouldn’t have made such a big thing of Jordan Spieth’s street-fighting smarts. A scrambled par on 1, but having dropped a stroke back there at 2, he’s gotten wild off the tee again on 3, leading to another bogey. You can’t keep making mid-range par savers. He’s +2 and suddenly looks a little pensive.
… so with that Brooks birdie, let’s update the leaderboard for the first time today. Im Sung-jae heads the other way, having come a cropper on the false front of the 2nd green, his ball toppling back down the fairway.
-4: Spaun
-3: Koepka (3*), Lawrence
-2: S Kim
-1: Im (2), B Griffin, Detry, Neergaard-Petersen, Nicholas
Brooks Koepka finds the par-five 12th in two big bloots, then nearly makes the eagle putt from 26 feet. Not quite, but that’s back-to-back birdies for Brooks, a fine response to that opening bogey. He closes in on the lead at -3. But not such good news for his playing partner Justin Thomas, who three-putts from three feet and chalks up a double bogey. JT shot 76 yesterday, and surviving the cut is already looking like a pipe dream. He’s +9.
Jordan Spieth can’t make his par putt on 2. He slips back to +1. Also heading in the wrong direction is his playing partner, the 2021 champion Jon Rahm. The 30-year-old Spaniard is busy rediscovering his major-championship form after some mixed experiences of late, and opened with a fine 69 yesterday. But his first shot this morning found a fairway bunker and led to bogey. He’s level par now, and has just hit another wild tee shot, this time so far left at 3 that he clears the Church Pew bunker and ends up on the 4th fairway. No real harm done there.
Sheer brilliance from Scottie Scheffler on 11. His tee shot bounds towards a bunker down the left of the track, but sticks in the rough to its side. Standing in the trap with the ball way above his feet, he’s forced to take his medicine, clipping back onto the fairway. But then the cream rises. He sends his approach scampering past the hole, the ball screeching to a halt and spinning back, nearly dropping into the cup. Another 11 inches and it’d have been an outrageous birdie. It’s still a pretty amazing par. Kids, be like Scottie, keep calm and take your medicine. That stuff’s good for you.
A bounce-back birdie for Brooks Koepka at the short par-four 11th. He’s -2 again. But back on 2, real trouble for Jordan Spieth, who takes a shy at the green from the thick rough down the right, but only manages to advance his ball a yard or so. The grass murderously throttling the hosel there. His second attempt is much more successful, and he finds the green, though he’ll need to sink a 25-footer if he’s to escape with par again.
… and ah yes, there’s Spieth flaying his tee shot at 2 into deep trouble down the right. Oh Jordan. Good luck with that. Elsewhere, a couple of big early birdies. Viktor Hovland rakes one in from the fringe at 10, a huge swinging right-to-left 52-footer that earns a huge roar from the gallery. The popular Norwegian moves back to level par. And he’s going round with Scottie Scheffler, who makes birdie too, but in more traditional style, finding the centre of the green before steering in an uphill 20-footer. He’s +2 and here he comes!
If anyone has the mix of street-fighting savvy and short-game magic to hold Oakmont at arm’s length, it’s surely Jordan Spieth. The 2015 champ has been showing signs of emerging from his recent slump, and shot 70 yesterday, a most acceptable start to his hunt for a second US Open. He’s started today in trademark style: a loose tee shot that ends up in the thick stuff, necessitating the taking of medicine. Once he chips out, he spins his approach from 100 yards to five feet, and tickles in the putt to save his par. If he can get the driver behaving – admittedly a big if for the Seve-esque wild man – he’ll be in with a shout this week.
Conditions are very similar to yesterday. Warm but not oppressive; a little bit of moisture in the air to keep the course responsive; not much in the way of wind. On Sky Sports, David Howell suggests today’s scoring will be very similar too. So don’t expect too many of the lads ripping it up: only one player was bogey-free yesterday, the leader JJ Spaun, and his round was only the second bogey-free card in the last 1,037 US Open rounds at Oakmont.
Scottie Scheffler was uncharacteristically sloppy yesterday. But then Oakmont can do that to a golfer, even the world’s very best. He’s far from out of contention after yesterday’s three-over 73, but he can’t afford the same again. His first shot of the day is a driving iron that splits the 10th fairway. Big couple of hours coming up for the world number one.
The 2017 and 2018 champion Brooks Koepka finished strongly last night with birdies at 17 and 18. He’s not started so well this morning, however. His opening tee shot at 10 drifts into rough down the right. He can’t reach the green with his second, and though he gives himself a chance of redemption by wedging to ten feet, the putt’s missed, and the errant drive has cost him an opening bogey. He’s -1.
Preamble
Day one wasn’t exactly carnage – the course was relatively soft and receptive after rain earlier in the week, while there was little wind – but unless storms come at the weekend, something not yet certain, it’s not going to get any easier. And despite it all, there were only ten players in a field of 156 who finished the first round under par.
-4: JJ Spaun
-3: Thriston Lawrence
-2: Kim Si-woo, Brooks Koepka, Im Sung-jae
-1: Ben Griffin, Thomas Detry, Jon Rahm, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, James Nicholas
However there are very few big-name players not on that list who have played themselves out of it. Not Scottie and Bryson at +3, nor Rory and 54-year-old Phil the Thrill at +4. But the margins for error are smaller now. Should make for a great Moving-into-Moving-Day Day! Actually, let’s not make that a thing. Here are the tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST, (a) denotes amateur). It’s on!
Starting at hole 1
11.45 Will Chandler, Andrea Pavan (Ita), Takumi Kanaya (Jpn)
11.56 (a) Bryan Lee, Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Preston Summerhays
12.07 Max Greyserman, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa), Matt Wallace (Eng)
12.18 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Russell Henley, Nick Taylor (Can)
12.29 Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth
12.40 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sepp Straka (Aut)
12.51 Tom Hoge, J. T. Poston, Cameron Young
13.02 Michael Kim, Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven)
13.13 Nick Dunlap, Marc Leishman (Aus), Aaron Rai (Eng)
13.24 Matthew Jordan (Eng), Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Yuta Sugiura (Jpn)
13.35 Trevor Cone, Ryan McCormick, (a) Zachery Pollo
13.46 James Nicholas, (a) Tyler Weaver (Eng), Riki Kawamoto (Jpn)
13.57 George Duangmanee, Harrison Ott, Austen Truslow
17.30 Zachary Blair, Alistair Docherty, Scott Vincent (Zim)
17.41 Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa), Jordan Smith (Eng), Eric Cole
17.52 Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Taylor Pendrith (Can), J. J. Spaun
18.03 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Adam Scott (Aus)
18.14 Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Andrew Novak
18.25 Shane Lowry (Irl), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Justin Rose (Eng)
18.36 Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Si-Woo Kim (Kor)
18.47 Brian Harman, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith (Aus)
18.58 Brian Campbell, Justin Lower, Niklas Noergaard (Den)
19.09 Johnny Keefer, (a) Jackson Koivun, Davis Riley
19.20 James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, (a) Michael La Sasso
19.31 Chris Gotterup, (a) Mason Howell, Joakim Lagergren (Swe)
19.42 Zachary Bauchou, Jackson Buchanan, (a) Lance Simpson
Starting at hole 10
11.45 Sam Bairstow (Eng), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Frederic Lacroix (Fra)
11.56 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Joe Highsmith, Ryan Fox (Nzl)
12.07 Jacob Bridgeman, Victor Perez (Fra), Adam Schenk
12.18 Brooks Koepka, Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Justin Thomas
12.29 Sam Burns, Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Denny McCarthy
12.40 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
12.51 Corey Conners (Can), Jason Day (Aus), Patrick Reed
13.02 Daniel Berger, Bud Cauley, Joaquin Niemann (Chi)
13.13 Tony Finau, Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Chris Kirk
13.24 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Stephan Jaeger (Ger), (a) Benjamin James
13.35 Laurie Canter (Eng), (a) Justin Hastings (Cay), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den)
13.46 Roberto Diaz (Mex), Emilio Gonzalez (Mex), (a) Frankie Harris
13.57 Joey Herrera, George Kneiser, Grant Haefner
17.30 Trent Phillips, Kevin Velo, (a) Matt Vogt
17.41 Chandler Blanchet, Alvaro Ortiz (Mex), Doug Ghim
17.52 (a) Evan Beck, Justin B. Hicks, Maxwell Moldovan
18.03 Keegan Bradley, Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
18.14 Jose Luis Ballester (Spa), Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele
18.25 Wyndham Clark, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Gary Woodland
18.36 Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Matt McCarty
18.47 Cameron Davis (Aus), Thomas Detry (Bel), Davis Thompson
18.58 Richard Bland (Eng), Lanto Griffin, (a) Trevor Gutschewski
19.09 Ryan Gerard, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Sam Stevens
19.20 (a) Noah Kent, Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Thorbjoern Olesen (Den)
19.31 Jinichiro Kozuma (Jpn), (a) Cameron Tankersley, Chase Johnson
19.42 Philip Barbaree, Brady Calkins, Riley Lewis
