OAKMONT, Pa. — The sun rose at 5:49 Thursday morning and began its slow climb into a bright, hazy sky. Fifty-six minutes later, former Oakmont Country Club caddie-turned-dentist Matt Vogt christened the 125th U.S. Open by sending the opening tee shot left—of the adjacent 9th fairway.
And so the carnage began.
Except it didn’t, not exactly. One look at the bigger and deeper Church Pew bunkers, the dense 5-inch rough, the 300-yard par-3 8th hole with a pinched-in fairway and more, we were expecting The Massacre at Winged Foot Meets Custer at Little Big Horn.
What we got was Max Moldovan—yes, The Max Moldovan—holing out for eagle on the 1st hole, the only time that’s happened in 10 U.S. Opens at Oakmont. We got Shane Lowry holing out for eagle at the par-4 3rd hole. We got J.J. Spaun, you know, the future Hall of Famer, sprinting to 4 under par through the first eight holes and hanging on for bogey-free 66. We got Sungjae Im briefly touching 5 under through 11 holes in the afternoon wave. We got ex-Masters champ Patrick Reed making an albatross 2 on the par-5 4th hole, the only time that’s ever happened at an Oakmont Open.
Course designer Gil Hanse said earlier this week he was given one directive for his recent renovation of venerable Oakmont. “When you’re done,” he was told, “it better not be easier.”
Do not be deceived by the modest amount of carnage. (Modest? Don’t tell that to Rory McIlroy, Lowry, Patrick Cantlay and Justin Rose, who combined for a total of 26 over par. And that’s with Lowry making an eagle and McIlroy playing his first nine holes in 2 under.)
Oakmont is still coming for the players, as long as more rain doesn’t fall this weekend and soften the course further.
The initial surge of red numbers lasted two hours in the morning wave and then, as Oakmont bit back, receded. Only four players broke par from the morning tee times. Spaun was 4 under, Thriston Lawrence was 3 under and Ben Griffin and Thomas Detry were 1 under.
None got off to a more unexpected start than Moldovan, a four-time All-Big Ten Conference player at Ohio State from Uniontown, Ohio. Moldovan, playing in the third pairing to go off, struck a wedge shot toward the first green. It was on a good line toward the right side of the green but the morning sun was so blinding, he couldn’t see the result. His wife, Emily, could. She stood farther down the fairway and had the perfect view.
“I saw it land on the green, it looked really good,” she said, “and I thought, ‘oh my gosh, this could be really good, it might get to 6 feet, that would be awesome.’ Then it just kept rolling and rolling and it went in! I yelled and screamed and jumped up and down and ran up and down the sideline. It was crazy, it felt like a weight lifted off of our shoulders, for sure.”
After the gallery’s cheering, Moldovan turned toward his caddie, facing the tee, got confirmation that he’d just made an eagle 2 on the opening hole, raised his arms in celebration, then high-fived his caddie. He completed his round at 76, 6 over par.
“It was a cool feeling,” said Moldovan. “But I kind of had the same first-tee jitters at No. 2 as I did on the first hole. I didn’t hit any putts, I didn’t really finish the hole, I just picked my ball out of the cup and went to 2. It was pretty strange.”
It stayed strange for a while. Spaun chipped in for birdie on his opening hole, the 10th, a signal of things to come. Gary Woodland got to 3 under par in rapid fashion, McIlroy hit 2 under early on and Oakmont started to feel more like Golden Tee, the popular video game.
“It was a nice little wake-up call at 7:10 in the morning,” said Spaun, who lost a Monday morning playoff to McIlroy at this year’s Players Championship. “It was a nice way to start the day.”
Oakmont isn’t supposed to be a nice way to start the day. It’s supposed to be Metallica at full volume in your ears, both rear wheels falling off your car on the way to work or an ominous “I saw what you did” message on your phone. Oakmont is never nice.
Well, the weekend’s heavy rains apparently left Oakmont’s fairways and greens just soft enough for some temporary good scoring.
Robert MacIntyre, last year’s Scottish Open champion, shot 70, even par and was under no delusions about Oakmont’s difficulty.
“Honestly, I don’t know if it’s good or bad to save a [be at] level par [score],” he said. “That’s almost as good as I’ve got. This is up there in the top 10 of any rounds I’ve played. This course is just so hard. Every shot, you’re on a knife edge. Off the tee, it’s the most demanding golf course I’ve ever played and I’ve played Royal Lytham.”
Xander Schauffele, last year’s PGA Championship and British Open, shot 72 and was impressed by Spaun’s start.
“I just told J.J., ‘incredible round, nice playing,’” Schauffele said. And in a slightly cynical tone, he added, “Good luck the rest of the way.”
Despite the moderate scores, at least by Oakmont standards, there were plenty of ugly lies and awkward shots. McIlroy fanned a drive into the right rough at the 4th hole into a stand of tall, dense fescue. He took a mighty cut and moved it maybe 15 yards into the regular rough with an unpleasant lie and the ball below his feet. He muscled that one out to the fairway, knocked it on the green and holed a 25-footer to save bogey.
At the 8th, Rory was paid another visit by Oakmont’s Rough Fairy when he missed the par-3 green to the right, pitched out, sending a large patch of long grass flying, and watched his ball come up short of the green. He chipped again, left it well short and made a double bogey during his disastrous second nine that featured four bogeys and a double for 41. McIlroy also missed several par putts of 6 feet or less.
What went wrong? You’ll have to visit his GolfPass show Ask Rory, because when McIlroy left the scoring area and reached the clubhouse where a gaggle of media types waited for him, he pursed his lips and briskly bounced up the steps into the clubhouse without stopping. That’s more like the Oakmont effect we expected. Lowry didn’t talk, either, although he stopped on the clubhouse steps briefly and turned his head, possibly looking for someone’s head to bite off—which would be understandable—after his 79.
Even Bryson DeChambeau admitted the Oakmont rough was more than his muscular self could handle at times. He was even par through 11 holes, then bogeyed the 618-yard 12th hole despite knocking his second shot over the green, a pretty massive blow. He caught an awkward lie behind the green, however.
“I was on a 45-degree upslope, I’m hitting a semi-half flop and it came out like a jumper and just shot right and knuckled,” DeChambeau said. “I was like, ‘well, horrible decision.’ But life goes on. That’s the U.S. Open for you.”
He added two more bogeys on the way in and shot 73.
Only 11 scores under par were reported during the first round of the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Despite Spaun and a few other surprises, that number will be about the same today.
MacIntyre was asked by a British journalist if he’d take three more rounds of even par this week. MacIntyre shot him an are-you-kidding-me look.
“You shoot four level-par rounds here, you’re walking away with a medal and a trophy,” he said.
This is a Scot who has the proper respect for Oakmont.
Schauffele does, too. When he finished Thursday, he was six strokes behind Spaun. He was asked about his position and if he was concerned.
“It’s Thursday,” Schauffele said.
The players have three more days to battle Oakmont. History shows, and Schauffele knows, Oakmont is the heavy favorite in that match. (Cue more carnage.)
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Oakmont’s Carnage Was Modest on Day 1 but Don’t Get Too Comfortable.
