Justin Rose walks off smiling broadly. He was steady all the way round, before pressing the accelerator over the closing stretch. The 2013 champion leads the way after the first round! Make sure to join us tomorrow afternoon to see if he can put some distance between himself and late starters such as Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele, Louis Oosthuizen and Rory McIlroy. Thanks for reading. Nighty night!
-6: Rose
-5: Fowler, Schauffele, Oosthuizen, Wise
-4: Piercy, Lashley
-3: Straka, Grillo, McIlroy, Woodland, Reavie, Hadley, Stenson, Molinari
-2: Arnaus, Kaymer, Rahm, Leishman, DeChambeau, McDowll, Matsuyama, Garcia, Hovland -a-, Koepka, Kuchar, Fitzpatrick
Tiger faces a right-to-left downhill putt from 30 feet. He made one of similar length at 14 for par. He lags this one up well, but it’s always curling away to the left. It’ll be a tap-in for 70, though. Spieth, who laid up and wedged to 20 feet, dribbles his birdie effort a couple of feet past the hole. A little work to do. But he ends with a one-over 72. And finally Rose, who has a left-to-right slider for the outright lead. In it goes! A six-under 65! That’s some finish, three consecutive birdies, and he ties Tiger’s 2000 record for the lowest round at Pebble Beach in US Open history!
Rose splashes out carefully, though his ball still rolls 12 feet past the hole. Then it’s Tiger’s turn. He’s got an awkward stance, feet out of the bunker, crouching down. It’s all he can do to find the middle of the green, and he’s left with a long, long putt for birdie.
A fine end to the day for Matthew Fitzpatrick, who curls in a monster on 9 for birdie. Suddenly that’s a round in the sixties at a US Open! He’s -2. Over on 18, Tiger pulls his second into the sand to the left of the green. At least it didn’t get wet. Rose then unsheathes the 5-wood ... and dumps his second into the bunker at the front right. A couple of up-and-downs for birdie, then.
Rose and Woods both spank their tee shots at 18 down the right of the fairway, just past the famous tree. Rose with a decent chance now of making the birdie that’d give him sole ownership of the lead.
Justin Rose joins the leading group! He curls in his 26-foot left-to-right birdie effort, and goes striding after it, putter up, in celebration! That’s back-to-back birdies, and Merion’s champion is currently looking good at Pebble Beach! Tiger does very well to get up and down from the sand to remain at -1. And Spieth makes his par too, staying in touch at +1 despite misfiring badly today.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F), Wise (F), Rose (17)
-4: Piercy (F), Lashley (F)
Molinari clips a fine chip from the rough at the back of 18 to a couple of feet. He’ll knock that one in for birdie and a 68. Hovland knocks his third to 12 feet, and finishes with back-to-back birdies. That’s a hugely impressive 69 for the young man. And finally it’s Koepka’s turn ... but he prods gingerly at his short birdie putt, and another good chance slides by. He ends with a 69, four off the lead at -2.
Back at the long par-three 17th, Rose finds the meat of the green on the left. Not close to the pin, but safely on, and not a million miles away either. Maybe just inside 30 feet. Spieth’s effort snags in thick rough just to the left of Rose. Tiger’s tee shot is however well short, and flops apologetically into one of the big bunkers guarding the front. A mixed bag.
Koepka opts to play his ball from the dusty cart path, presumably considering it not worth the risk of taking a free drop onto the trodden-down rough nearby. And he whips a glorious second up the fairway. Not a moment of panic. Calm, considered, and the champ is back in control. He screeches a wedge to eight feet, and will have a look at a closing birdie. Molinari meanwhile sends his second just over the back of the green. Hovland looks his gift horse in the mouth by tugging his approach into trouble down the left.
Spieth nearly drains a 50-footer for birdie on 16; Tiger’s an inch away from making one from 25 feet. They remain at +1 and -1 respectively. But the third member of the group makes his birdie, and Justin Rose rises to -4, and a share of second place.
Paul Casey birdies the last. He’s signing for a 70, with the only blemish on his card that rather ugly double bogey at 9. Par for Henrik Stenson, who ends up with a fine 68. Back on the tee, Viktor Hovland takes liberties when taking the route down the left of the hole for maximum distance, and only just gets over the water. He’s in prime position now, though. Brooks Koepka, perhaps spooked a little by the young amateur’s nerve, sends a big slice away to the right. Had the ball landed on the cart path, it was surely bounding over a hedge and out of bounds. But it dropped a couple of feet short, and the smaller bounce it takes off the grass means it slaps off the hedge and back onto the path. Some punter nearly picks the ball up, presumably not realising that the US Open is being contested 30 yards away. But a marshal ensures she doesn’t touch it, and this will be one for the referee. Whatever happens, Koepka got away with that wild drive big-style.
Koepka does pretty well to gently whip his ball out of the bunker on 17 and keep it to within 15 feet of the flag. But that’s another big par putt coming back. Before he can line it up, the amateur Viktor Hovland rattles in a 12-footer for birdie, reward for a sensational tee shot. He’s -1 again! Then it’s Koepka, and the two-time defending champ can’t make his par putt. He’s been sluggish since the turn, and that drops him back to -2.
Koepka sends a 4-iron into the sand to the right of the hour-glass 17th. He’s not plugged, but there really isn’t much green to play with, and the shoulder of another bunker is jutting across his line. A test. He usually passes them. Meanwhile on 15, Rose gets up and down from greenside sand to remain at -3.
Koepka makes his par putt at 16. That’s one hell of an up and down. He stays at -3. Meanwhile Tiger nearly drains a 60-footer from just off the front of 15. He remains at -1.
Koepka might be an arms-like-pistons big hitter, but he’s got a delicate touch around the greens as well. He flips his third at 16 into the sky, landing the ball eight feet from the hole, an astonishing result from the awkward position he’d left himself in. A great chance to salvage his par.
Koepka has suddenly gotten a bit ragged. His tee shot at 16 nestles in the first cut, then his approach lands well short, snagging in curly kale up a bank to the right of the green. There’s not a whole load of space to work with there. Meanwhile the shot of the day, surely, by the 2013 champion Webb Simpson, who is miles wide right of the par-five 6th, but has a good enough lie to whip a wood out of the rough, and sends his ball gliding into the front of the green, stopping six feet from the cup. He makes his eagle putt, and he’s +1. And it’s four birdies on the bounce by Henrik Stenson, who sent his second at 8 to ten feet then rolled in his putt! He’s -3.
Tiger thins a shot out of a bunker down the par-five 14th and into filth on the right of the hole. It’s all he can do to find the centre of the green; he’ll have a 30-footer to save his par. And he makes it! An oscillating putt, moving gently left and right and left again, guided in at perfect pace! He punches the air and remains at -1. Meanwhile a rare birdie for the out-of-sorts Jordan Spieth, who doesn’t bother celebrating, still adrift at +1 as he is.
Oh Brooks! After a sensational second shot at 15, a birdie looks a shoo-in. But he overcooks his putt, leaving it high on the right and sending his ball three feet past. He does very well to reset himself and tap in the par putt. A huge chance missed, though. Meanwhile a 68 for Chez Reavie, who has finished strong with birdies at 6 and 9.
Some news of the amateur Viktor Hovland since that double bogey at 8. More dropped shots at 10 and now 14 have sent him back to level par. Those heady moments when he was -4 through the first six holes seem an awfully long time ago. Hovland turns pro next week; he’s learning a few hard lessons ahead of the big leap into the unknown. But by the looks of him he’ll make it just fine. Calm and collected, he very nearly rolls in a birdie putt at 15. Not quite, but his mental equilibrium throughout this rollercoaster round has been very impressive.
Koepka, having ground out his par on 14, splits the 15th fairway. His second, from 148 yards, lands softly four feet from the flag. The defending champion should be within a shot of the lead very soon. Meanwhile it’s three birdies in a row for the 2016 Open champion Henrik Stenson, at 5, 6 and now 7, and he’s turning an average round into a very promising one.
Nate Lashley makes it home with a couple of pars, and that’s a US Open debut round of 67. Flawless, not a bogey on his card! Magnificent stuff from the 36-year-old from Nebraska. This is a heartwarming, if bittersweet story: back in 2004, he lost his parents and girlfriend in a plane crash when they were travelling home after watching him compete as a junior at the University of Arizona. He’s been battling knee problems, too, and owes his current place on the PGA Tour to a medical extension. Here’s hoping, after all he’s been through, that he keeps this going all week. He’s -4, one off the lead at the US Open!
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F), Wise (F)
-4: Piercy (F), Lashley (F)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), McIlroy (F), Woodland (F), Koepka (14), Rose (13)
Updated
Aaron Wise tidies up from five feet, and he’s signing for an excellent 66. Just the one bogey, and that coming at his opening hole, the 10th. Tiger’s second at 13 is well short of the green, but he wedges up to five feet and salvages his par. He remains at -1. A very similar par scramble for Justin Rose - wild drive, short second, fine wedge to close range - and the 2013 champ stays at -3.
Wise finds the heart of the 9th in two strokes. He’s got a 30-foot right-to-left breaker to match Tiger’s record-breaking opening round here in 2000. But there’ll be no 65. He leaves it plenty short. Meanwhile Koepka can only thrash his second at 14 out of the thick stuff. He’s lucky that his ball, which squirts off to the left, stops one yard short of more long nonsense, coming to a halt in the semi-rough instead.
Koepka’s been a bit wild off the tees today. He flays his drive at the par-five 14th into thick trouble, wide of the bunkers guarding the corner of the fairway. Back on 13, a very similar tee shot from Tiger, who lets an exasperated “Jesus Christ!” ring around California. The speed at which Fox Sports then cut off the microphone means we’ll never know what other bon mots followed apace. A rococo exploration of olde English, lost forever to the ether. Oh Fox!
Koepka nearly curls in the 35-footer he’s left himself on 13. But it’s too much to ask, and he drops back to -3, handing back the shot he’d picked up at the par-three 12th with indecent haste. Pars for Rose and Tiger at 12.
Callum Tarren has had a hell of a journey to get here. The 28-year-old from Darlington is making his US Open debut, and could have done with spending his travels contemplating his game. Instead, someone dropped a phone charger in the doorway of the plane he was catching to get here; it got trapped when they shut it, and bent the seal. The flight was cancelled. He had to take a $450 taxi here instead. And then his clubs, still on the plane, were rerouted to the other side of the country. Oops! But no matter, because he’s just holed out from a bunker halfway down 10 for eagle. He’s -2!
Bother for Koepka, who thins his bunker shot at 13. The ball slams into the face, and only just squirts out. He’s now hitting three into the green from thick rough, 115 yards out. He powers towards the edge of the green, but he’s left with a long par putt. Test coming up. Meanwhile a fine up and down by Wise from the back of 8. He remains in a share of the lead.
Wise sends his second at 8 into the thick stuff atop the hill to the left of the green. He’ll have a bit of work for his par from there. Tiger dunks his second at 11 into the sand at the front. He’s short-sided, and if his lob out doesn’t hit the flagstick, he’ll be way beyond the hole. But it’s unlucky as well as lucky, because on another day that could easily have dropped for birdie. He’ll take his par. Meanwhile on 13, Koepka’s drive lands in a fairway bunker, and first suggestions are that it’s plugged. Whether that’s enough to stop the big man is another thing altogether.
Ewan Murray’s first dispatch from Pebble Beach is in! And here it is, landing harder than an approach shot under Sunday sun. Click and enjoy, but do remember to come back, because we’ve got at least a couple of hours of live coverage to go. Maybe more, who knows?
Koepka’s been quiet for a while. But it was only a matter of time. He caresses an iron into the 200-yard par-three 12th; it’s pin high, leaving a straight uphill putt across the green. It’s never deviating from its route into the cup. He joins the group a shot off the lead at -4.
Ian Poulter’s always an entertaining watch. He sliced his second at 10 onto the beach, then got up and down from the drop zone to salvage the situation with bogey. Now he’s grabbed the shot back by nearly spinning his second at 11 into the cup, half a ball away from a spectacular eagle. He’s -1. Par for Wise at 7.
Rose tugs his approach at 10 into the bunker front left, and briefly considers burying the hosel of his club into the fairway. He thinks better of it, calms down, and flops high out of the sand, into the breeze, and nearly holes the bunker shot. He’ll have taken that par when his second shot was sailing wildly off course. He remains at -3. Par for Tiger (-1).
The late-blooming Nate Lashley, playing his first major as a 36-year-old, makes another birdie! This one comes at the short par-three 7th. His tee shot wasn’t particularly special, but the 25-foot uphill putt was, and he’s just a shot off the lead! That’s a lead Aaron Wise couldn’t extend, by the way, not getting particularly close with his chip at the par-five 6th and settling for par.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F), Wise (15*)
-4: Piercy (F), Lashley (16*)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), McIlroy (F), Woodland (F), Koepka (11), Rose (9)
Koepka’s ability to get out of bother is quite something. His tee shot at 11 ends up in deep trouble down the right, but he’s able to slam his wedge down and through the thick grass, sending his ball squirting onto the front of the green. Just like at 9, he’ll surely be happy to take two putts and escape with par.
Two putts at 10 for Koepka and the par keeps him at -3. Rose also remains at that mark after getting up and down at 9; he turns in 32. Tiger also makes his par and turns in 34. Play’s got a little clogged up around the turn. More excitement to follow, I’ll be bound. But none to report right now.
Koepka’s drive at 10 bleeds into the sand to the left of the fairway. No matter: he whips a 7-iron into the heart of the green. Tiger meanwhile batters one straight down the 9th, only to leave his approach well short. He’ll have work to do from the bunker guarding the front left of the green. Rose finds his way in there too. Not ideal, but then again Louis Oosthuizen holed out from that trap, so there’s always hope.
Wise has an opportunity to take sole ownership of the lead, knocking his tee shot at the par-three 5th to eight feet. But the putt drifts by the right of the cup, and he remains at -5. Meanwhile Spieth continues to struggle, hitting a marshal on the back with his tee shot at 9, then sending a hybrid over the back of the green.
Yet another birdie for Aaron Wise, this time at 3, and the young man from Vegas is tied for the lead at the US Open! Justin Rose goes the other way, though, dropping back to -3 after sending his second into 8 onto the thickly covered bank to the left of the green and finding himself unable to get up and down. Better news for Jordan Spieth, though, who manages to chip down from the bank to ten feet and make the putt, limiting the damage to bogey. He’s +1.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F), Wise (13*)
-4: Piercy (F)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), McIlroy (F), Woodland (F), Lashley (14*), Koepka (9), Rose (8)
Koepka’s drive at the long par-four 9th - playing the hardest hole on the course - creeps into the thick rough down the right. Mere mortals wouldn’t be able to reach the green from that lie, but Koepka can power onto the front of the putting surface. Two putts and he’s more than happy to get this difficult test out of the way. Par. To illustrate how difficult the hole is, his partner Molinari drops his first stroke of the day to slip back to -2. And a wee bit earlier, Paul Casey gave up the birdies he’d made at 1 and 6 with a double to turn in level-par 35.
A serious misjudgement by Jordan Spieth on 8. Laying up from the tee, he takes one club and sends his ball scampering over the cliff. From the drop zone, he makes another error, sending his wedge bouncing hard onto the green down below, and bouncing into the thick grass behind. That’s disappeared from view. The 2015 champion’s form has been on the upturn of late, but his opening round is threatening to unravel here.
Brandt Snedeker has already chipped in twice today. Now he’s driven onto the beach at 18, knocked his second back into play, then made it up and down from distance for an outrageous birdie. He’s level par as he turns. But if all that wasn’t outrageous enough, may the record show that this is the second time he’s birdied this hole from the beach this year! Here’s his absurd carry-on at the AT&T Pro-Am in February.
So this is some response by Tiger to making that double at 5. Having birdied 6, he now strokes in a 20-footer on 7 to return almost instantly to -1. And his partner Justin Rose makes it four shots picked up in as many holes, walking after a ten-footer in celebration. Another birdie for Aaron Wise at 3, meanwhile, and suddenly there’s a fresh look near the top of the leader board.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F)
-4: Piercy (F), Wise (12*), Rose (7)
Trouble for the amateur Hovland at 8. His second flies through the back, then he fluffs a chip from the thick stuff. He very nearly trundles in his next chip to outrageously save par, but it scoots on by and he can’t hole the one coming back. A double, and he slips to -2. Meanwhile the defending champ Brooks Koepka makes his first bogey of the day, all the trouble coming after he sent his approach wide left and into very thick oomska. He’s -3.
Justin Rose lashes his second at 6 from 235 yards to ten feet. That one was straight at it. He’ll have a great look at eagle. And it’s in. He’s -3, the eagle a very nice chaser to the birdie he’d made at 4. Tiger wedges his third in to four feet, and grabs back one of the shots he’s just dropped. He’s level par again. But it’s a bogey for Jordan Spieth, who couldn’t get up and down from the back of the green, and he slips back to level par.
Nate Lashley is playing in his first major at the age of 36. Having played the back nine in 35, the Nebraskan birdies 2 then bump-and-runs one in from the apron at 3 to pick up another shot. He’s -3. Ian Poulter meanwhile makes back-to-back birdies at 6 and 7 to move to -2.
Hole-in-one! Rory Sabbatini makes it at the 202-yard par-three 12th, a long iron arrowed straight at the flag, taking one bounce on the fringe, another near the hole, and a third dunked into the cup! He “wooooo”s like we all wooooooould, and that’s the 45th hole-in-one in US Open history. And the first for six years: the previous was made by Zach Johnson on the 9th at Pinehurst in 2014.
Hovland continues to impress. His tee shot into 7 isn’t the greatest, sent just over the back. He’s left with a tricky downhill chip from the longer grass. But he nudges it up to tap-in distance, and he remains at -4. Par for Koepka too; he’s -4 as well. And birdie for Francesco Molinari, who had missed a tiddler on the previous hole but guides in a tricky ten-footer to move to -3.
Meanwhile as for Tiger, his ball is over the other side of the cart path to the left of the 5th. It’s snagged in thick cabbage, and it’s all he can do to whistle his ball through the green and off the other side. The wedge coming back isn’t all that either, and two putts later he’s putting a double-bogey five on his card. He slips to +1. To be honest, it’s no more than that truly dreadful tee shot deserved. But we’ve seen him escape from those sort of situations so often, so, y’know. Up ahead, it’s a super-fast start by the always entertaining Kiradech Aphibarnrat, who follows up birdies at 2 and 6 by nearly back-screwing his tee shot at the short par-three 7th into the cup. Another birdie will do, and he’s -3.
Brooks Koepka nearly reaches the par-five 6th in two strokes. He’s putting from the fringe ... and nearly drains the eagle putt. That would have given him a share of the lead. As it is, he’ll surely be tapping in for his fourth birdie in the first six holes. But never mind that, because the 21-year-old amateur he’s going round with, Viktor Hovland, found the heart of the green in two, and was one roll away from steering a 25-foot eagle putt of his own into the cup. That’d have given the young Norwegian a share of the lead. This is the US Open! But then consider that he earned his ticket for this tournament by beating Devon Bling 6&5 on this very course to win the US Amateur. He likes the track. He’s also just tied for 32nd at the Masters, where he was low amateur ... and will be turning pro next week. He’s the real deal. This is sensational, don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t a complete bolt out of the blue.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F)
-4: Piercy (F), Hovland -a- (6), Koepka (6)
“Goddammit!” Tiger’s 6-iron into the par-three 5th is a double-cross disgrace, sent as far left as you can possibly go. It takes a huge balloon off a cart path, and that could be anywhere. Anywhere, I tells ya. Genuine shouts of horror from the gallery, as though they’ve just watched a Rolls Royce topple off the cliff, followed by a grand piano and a hundred wide-eyed puppies. It’s fair to say the galleries are rooting for the great man. He’ll need a little support from the big man in the sky here too. That was wild.
And with that, John is off in a flash of light. I’ve returned just in time to see plenty of the lads on the front nine making hay; perhaps even more impressive is the run put together on the more difficult back nine by young Aaron Wise. The 22-year-old from Vegas already has a top-20 finish at the Masters to his name this season, and having started at 10 he’s “out” in 33. A bogey at 10 followed by birdies at 11, 14, 15 and 18. He’s -3.
Off at the fourth, and the big-name trio all hit their drives within yards of each other. Woods plays one of those spin-back efforts on the fourth. It draws deserved rather than sycophantic applause. Rose attempts the same, but his shot spins back having never got as far as the hole. Spieth takes the honour and misses his birdie attempt. Rose, though, makes his to go to -1. As does Tiger, who goes into the red and is looking dead-eyed with that putter.
Ian Poulter is swaggering after sinking a birdie putt on the fourth. Also on form, and few surprises here is Brooks Koepka who sinks another birdie to go to -3 with a wondrous chip off the fringe and into the hole on the fifth. And a par five to come next. He is on the march already, and that is bad news for the rest.
Whoops, Tiger overcooks his approach shot and has a difficult and lengthy par putt. But...he holds his nerve to sink one. The putter is holding up beautifully Spieth also fails to take advantage of his great second shot and has to settle for par. The same goes for Rose. As you were.
Jordan Spieth and his caddie yell “fore” after whacking his tee shot on the third left and into the crowd. His second, taking advantage of a free drop, is better and gives him chance to make birdie. Justin Rose and Tiger Woods are far more sure-footed off the tee. Hovland on the fourth plays a shot that spins back to earn huge applause; he has the demeanour of a crowd favourite. Unfortunately, he makes something of a mess of his putt and stays at -2. The same happens to Koepka on what looks a hugely tough green to read. Up ahead, Paul Casey misses a birdie to join that -2 group. He does not look happy with himself at all.
Updated
Norway’s Viktor Hovland is the amateur looking most likely. He is at -2 after the third. Meanwhile, Tiger chooses to add spin to his third shot, to leave himself with a little to do to make par, but he makes it. Hell of a result after that trip to the Bunker Island. Rose plays a nice up and down to give himself a better chance, one that he also takes. It is left to Spieth to claim the first birdie among the all-star trio. Up ahead, Koepka plays a beautiful iron shot off the fourth, and looks imperious. His shot is hit so far it almost takes out a rather oblivious TV technician, who walks on blithely, oblivious to how close he came to being brained.
Justin Rose finds the sand on the second off the tee. Tiger chooses to go in the other direction but may be in worse trouble. He looks to be in the heavy stuff on some kind of platform in the middle of a bunker. Not a pleasant lie for him and he choose to lay up. More conservatism from him. Rose has a decent angle and lie in the sand and he lands close to the green, a most chip-able distance. Spieth is in the best position and his short game looks in good nick as he sets up a birdie.
The leaderboard is as you were, made up of those who went earlier. The leader not in the clubhouse, as it were, is Chez Reavie who is on -2 after the fourth.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F)
-4: Piercy (F)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), McIlroy (F), Woodland (F)
Koepka’s second shot on the second is a beauty. The usually metronomic one has a birdie chance but his putt bobbles and ends up falling short. He will have to settle for par. Spieth meanwhile plays a lovely shot out of the roughage to the dance floor. Nice work. Rose is not so lucky and is in the fringe of the green. Tiger’s is the best second shot of the lot on the first. Rose’s chip for his third shot is delicious and he will claim par. Spieth has to settle for the same after failing to read the hill. And Tiger, well, he gets within a thimble’s width of the hole, but he knows he under-amped that. Pars all round, then.
Good evening/afternoon. Let’s begin the begin with Spieth’s iron shot on the first tee. There is some jocularity between the famous trio before the 2015 champ takes to the stage. He hooks it left, and into the heavy stuff. Up steps Justin Rose. He is more circumspect and lands in some less heavy rough. Then the Tiger gets the roars as he hits the straightest of the lot. It was a conservative start from him, and off they go down the course.
There’s one heck of a group on the 1st tee now: Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose. John Brewin makes up a fab four. See you in an hour!
Paul Casey made a fast start, sending his second at 1 pin high to six feet and rolling in for birdie. He very nearly hands it back now at 2, racing a downhill birdie effort six feet past the hole. But he gathers himself to knock in the one coming back. And behind him on the 1st ... well, you always knew it would begin like this. Brooks Koepka rolls in his birdie putt, and already the man of the moment - the man of the last two years, really - is in red figures for his title defence. He’s getting good at those.
Here comes the defending champion! Brooks Koepka takes to the 1st tee, and skelps an iron down the track. His second is pin high to 15 feet. Already looking nerveless.
The 21-year-old South African amateur Jovan Rebula has played in a couple of major championships already. He’s missed cuts at the Open last year, and the Masters this year. He’ll be dreaming of making the weekend, third time lucky, after an adventurous 70. Five birdies, two bogeys and a double, and Ernie Els’ nephew is -1. A fine level-par 70 meanwhile by the 22-year-old Californian amateur Brandon Wu.
Xander Schauffele played the 16th shoddily, and did very well to limit the damage to bogey. He then rattled in a very missable putt on 17 to save his par. And now he’s eagled 18, crashing a fearless drive down the track, sending his second over the flag, and rolling in a 12-footer from the fringe at the back. Never give up, kids! A 66. He’s got a share of the lead as a result, with Rickie Fowler ... and Louis Oosthuizen, who finishes sensationally. His second at 9 ends up in the bunker guarding the front of the green. He’s splashing out blind, but judges it perfectly, landing his ball softly a few feet short and sending it rolling gently in the cup for birdie! This is such an exciting leader board, and many of the big names have yet to tee it up.
-5: Fowler (F), Schauffele (F), Oosthuizen (F)
-4: Piercy (F)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), McIlroy (F), Woodland (F)
Sergio yips a tiddler from two feet on the 9th, and that’s a spirit-sapping end to an otherwise fine round. A 69, never to be sniffed at in US Open competition, but one that’ll sting nonetheless. Whether that’s as deflating as the end to his playing partner Tommy Fleetwood’s round is an argument to be had; the 2018 runner-up bogeyed 8 and 9 to slip back to level par. Having turned in 33, the supposedly easier nine holes out of the way, he’ll not be in the best of moods as he trudges off to the clubhouse. The final member of that group, Hideki Matsuyama, puts his name to a 69.
A 68 for Gary Woodland. He’s a little bit annoyed with his par at 18, but it’s all relative, and his playing partner Tyrrell Hatton finished with three straight bogeys. A decent enough opening round of 70, but he seriously ran out of steam there. A shame. Meanwhile the 2014 champion Martin Kaymer ended his first round with a 69; he’s -2 alongside Jon Rahm and Marc Leishman, the latter having disappointingly dropped a stroke at the last, a round bookended by mistakes but otherwise superb.
Mickelson’s 51-foot birdie putt on 9 rolls 50 feet and 11 inches. A par, and he’s signing for a one-over 72. Par for Dustin Johnson, too, despite a monster drive down the middle. A level-par 71. You’d have got good odds on G-Mac putting in the lowest card in that match. Meanwhile a staunch par save from 15 feet on 17 by Schauffele, who is scrapping hard to ensure his fine round doesn’t fall to bits over the closing holes. He remains at -3.
Another Rickie Fowler birdie putt shaves the hole, this time at 18. A slightly downbeat end to a superb round of 66. But only slightly. He’ll be extremely satisfied with that. A couple of inches away from a 64, when you also factor in the one that should have dropped at 16. His playing partner Jason Day birdies and signs for a one-under 70. Meanwhile a glorious finish to the 2010 champion Graeme McDowell’s round! He rolls in a 15-foot par saver, and that’s a 69. He’s the only player from the morning wave to go round Pebble Beach without dropping a shot. You could say he likes this place.
A word with a satisfied Rory McIlroy, who has just made his lowest opening round since 2011, the year of his Congressional procession. “I’m really pleased,” he tells Sky. “You know, it’s tough starting on 10 in the morning. I made bogey, but came back well and didn’t make a bogey after that. I played the last 17 holes in four under par. There were benign conditions, it’s very soft for a US Open course, so I needed to get out there and shoot something in the 60s. I can see the course getting a little bit harder as the week goes on, so I’m happy with my day’s work. I was pretty free, though there are a few tee shots out there where it looks very easy to hit it into that Pacific Ocean! I missed every fairway on the par-fives, and only made pars, so maybe I should play those better.”
Xander Schauffele zig-zags his way down 16, in trouble all the way. He does extremely well to get up and down from a tight spot at the back of the green to limit the damage to bogey. He’s back to -3. Louis Oosthuizen meanwhile misses a six-footer on the par-five 6th to turn up a chance of birdie and a share of the lead; he remains at -4.
Rory McIlroy is in with a 68. He very nearly birdied 9, the hardest hole on the course and one the field is playing in 4.5 shots. But it wasn’t to be. Still, he should be very chuffed with that, because his last three opening rounds at the US Open have been 77, 78 and 80. Additionally, in the last barren five years in the majors, he’s so often left himself with far too much to do after 18 holes, then finished strongly, and with regrets. So a strong start here should set him up for a proper tilt at a first major since the 2014 PGA. Just the three rounds to go!
To illustrate how good that DJ chip was, Mickelson has a go from a similar position. One of the greatest wedge players in the history of the game hits a hot one, and the ball skitters 15 feet past the flag. “Aw shit! Slow down!” he cries. He can’t make the one coming back, and the bogey drops him to +1. The six-time US Open runner-up looks dejected, time really not on his side to complete the career slam. It looks like it’ll give him the bodyswerve yet again. Hey, if missing out on the career slam was good enough for Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson, it should be good enough for Lefty. There are worse fates.
Sergio is this close to curling in a right-to-left eight-footer on 7. Like Mickelson before him, he should have converted the chance. He remains at -3. Trouble meanwhile for Dustin Johnson up on 8, as his second is swallowed up by thick rough up a hill to the side of the green. However, he’s not world number two for nowt, and he flips a high, gentle lob down onto the green and rolls it out to a couple of feet. He’ll escape with a four and remain at level par.
Fowler’s ball didn’t plug on the downslope. Phew. He splashes out to a couple of feet, and tidies up for a superb par. He remains a shot clear at the top. A first bogey of the day for Hatton at 16, though, and he slips out of second spot.
-5: Fowler (17)
-4: Piercy (F), Schauffele (15), Oosthuizen (14*)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), Leishman (17*), McIlroy (17*), Hatton (16), Woodland (16), Matsuyama (15*), Garcia (15*)
This is cooking up nicely. Already! A birdie for Tommy Fleetwood at 6, arresting his post-turn comedown. He’s -2. An eagle for his playing partner Sergio, though, and the 2017 Masters champion is suddenly -3! And the last member of the group, Hideki Matsuyama, completes a triptych of birdies to move to -3 as well.
In other Young Californian news, it’s three birdies in a row - and four in five holes - for the flying Xander Schauffele. This one comes at 14, after sending an approach from 150 yards to ten feet. He’s -4, a shot ahead of Rory McIlroy, who does very well to get up and down from thick filth at the back of 8. And back-to-back birdies for Louis Oosthuizen, at 4 and 5, bringing the 2010 Open champion to -4.
Fowler’s 4-iron into the iconic par-three 17th sails into the bunker to the left of the green. That may have plugged near the back lip on the downslope. If so, good luck with that one. He’s not got much green to work with either. Hopefully for the eternal bridesmaid, the ball will have rolled down into the flat portion of the trap.
Phil Mickelson wants a US Open so desperately. But then, so did Colin Montgomerie and look where that got him. He wants it too much. A gorgeous wedge into the 108-yard par-three 7th, and he’s left with an easy five-footer for a birdie that’d take him into red figures. However he shoves it right. Just a par, which is absurd given the quality of that tee shot. But then it was only back on 3 that he failed to tap in from 12 inches. The flat stick’s never been his best friend.
The leader Rickie Fowler is robbed on the 16th green. He’s got a straight uphill 20-footer for a third birdie in a row. He looks to have hit it perfectly, and goes walking after it only to be stopped in his tracks when gravity does a number on him and somehow the ball lips out. No idea how that didn’t drop. He taps in to remain at -5.
Back-to-back birdies for Tyrrell Hatton! Having birdied the par-five 14th, he rattles a straight 20-footer across 15 to move into a share of second with Scott Piercy. Meanwhile Tommy Fleetwood’s form has taken a nosedive since the turn. Having played the back nine in 33, he’s dropped strokes at 1 and 4. He’s still in a healthy position at -1, but much momentum has been lost.
Another birdie for the 2010 champ G-Mac! This one at the par-five 6th, and a very steady round is in danger of turning into an exceptional one. He’s -2. Birdie for Mickelson too, and he’s back to level par. He was one turn away from draining an eagle from the edge of the green. But just a par for DJ, who thought he’d made a fairly straight 12-footer, but the ball turned to the right at the death. He stays at level par.
Rickie Fowler hits the front! His second into 15 stops five feet from the flag, and he makes no mistake with the birdie putt. There’d be no more popular winner. Mickelson perhaps, Tiger possibly, but y’know. The point stands. He’s -5. A third birdie on the bounce for Marc Leishman, after wedging to eight feet at the tiddly 108-yard par-three 7th; he’s -3, and this is a majestic response to that bogey-par-bogey start. And what a finish Emiliano Grillo has made to his round! The 26-year-old Argentinian had a good year in the majors in 2016, but his form subsequently went south. He’s piecing it back together now, though, and birdies at 15, 17 and 18 have earned him a first-round 68. What a leader board we have already, and we’re not yet half of the way through Thursday!
-5: Fowler (15)
-4: Piercy (F)
-3: Straka (F), Grillo (F), Leishman (16*), McIlroy (16*), Hatton (14), Woodland (14), Schauffele (14), Oosthuizen (13*)
The 2014 champion Martin Kaymer has rebounded brilliantly after that bogey-bogey start. Birdies at 5 and 7 saw him turn in level-par 35, and a dropped shot at 11 couldn’t halt his upward momentum, because he’s just posted three birdies in a row, at 13, 14 and 15. The ever-excellent Xander Schauffele, meanwhile, has suddenly popped up near the top of the leader board too, with birdies at 11 and 13. The 25-year-old from San Diego has taken to the major-championship scene like a duck to water: in his last five starts in the majors, he’s got two ties for second and tie for sixth to his name. That’s some going. He’s -2 and don’t be surprised if he’s waving the trophy around on Sunday evening. He’s going to land a big one soon enough.
Scott Piercy’s excellent round comes to a sorry end at 18. Out of position from the tee, he ends with a bogey for a 67. Birdie for Tyrrell Hatton at 14, meanwhile, and he joins the group tying for third place.
-4: Piercy (F), Fowler (14)
-3: Straka (F), McIlroy (15*), DeChambeau (14*), Hatton (14), Woodland (14)
Ah, it’s in the hazard. He takes his drop and chips up, using the shoulder of the bunker to the right of the green to ping his ball sharp left and towards the hole. He’ll have a five-footer to save his par, an outcome he’d have grabbed with both hands when his second shot was sailing towards the filth. But he can’t make the short putt! What a miserable effort, having done all the hard work to recover the situation. He’s -2. Two putts from McIlroy from just off the green, and he escapes with par; he’s -3. And it’s an easy-as-you-like birdie for Leishman, who found the edge of the green in two and took two careful putts. He’s -2, having resurrected his round in fine fashion. The whole gamut of golfing emotion on the 6th there.
McIlroy over-draws his tee shot at the par-five 6th into the cabbage on the left. He takes his medicine, chipping out, then sends his third just short of the green. He should be able to get up and down from there without too much drama, though we’ll see. In serious bother, though, is his playing partner Rahm, who from the centre of the fairway sliced hysterically into a jungle guarding the right of the hole. He’ll do well to find that, never mind getting it out.
Sepp Straka, out in the first group starting at 10 this morning, has made it all the way to the clubhouse. He’s done it in 68 blows, a fine US Open debut. Clubhouse leader doesn’t have much currency at this stage of the day, of course, but the young Austrian-turned-American will still be there or thereabouts come the close of play. A marvellous round of four birdies and just the one dropped shot. He’s -3.
Graeme McDowell won here in 2010 by taking things nice and slowly. He’s parred the first 12 holes of his round; now, having split the fairway at 4, he lands a wedge 15 feet past the cup, spinning it back to kick-in distance. He’ll move to -1 unless he has a Mickelsonesque rush of blood. Not happening. In it goes. It’ll be birdie for DJ, too, the reward for nearly driving the green. So simple when he does it like this. He’s level par again. Mickelson has to settle for a par, and remains at +1.
Even the greatest players make amateur errors. Mickelson yips a tiddler from 12 inches at 3. Bogey. He’s +1. DJ also drops to +1 after sending a simple wedge in short and into thick rough. Meanwhile up on the par-three 5th, McIlroy sends his tee shot into thick rough front left of the green ... then fluffs his chip. His ball only just makes the apron. But then he illustrates the difference between the world’s greatest and your weekend hacker, trundling in the par saver to escape from a hole he’d made a complete mess of. Rahm misses a six-footer for his birdie, while Leishman’s renaissance continues with birdie; he’s -1.
It’s been a good season for CT Pan. The 27-year-old from Taiwan won his first PGA Tour title a couple of months ago, the RBC Heritage in South Carolina. (Pan must like the Carolinas, having nearly won the Wyndham in Greensboro, NC, last year.) Today’s probably one to forget, though. He’s played ten holes so far, and already has four double bogeys on his card! He’s +8 after making a mess of 3, 6, 9 and 10. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s propping up the entire field out there so far, 78th out of 78.
Updated
McIlroy gives up a great chance for birdie at the short par-four 4th. He sent his wedge right at the flag, leaving himself an uphill ten-footer, twirling his club in happiness as his ball sailed gracefully through the air. But his putt lips out, hit a little too strong perhaps. Still, they never go in if you leave them short. A frustrating par, but he remains -3 in very good nick. Compare and contrast to another of the names often mentioned in dispatches at the start of the week. The 2017 PGA champion Justin Thomas had been speaking of his love for “the grind” at US Opens. Whether he still feels that right now is a moot point, because consecutive bogeys at 17, 18 and 1 have sent him crashing down the standings to +3.
DJ looks as though he’s taken advantage of his good break off the tee at 2, knocking his second from not-so-deep rough into the heart of the green. But three miserable putts later, and he’s back to level par. His playing partner Lefty puts himself in trouble by uncharacteristically fluffing a chip, but he rolls in a saver to remain at level par. Mickelson’s been steady, birdie at 14 and bogey at 16 aside.
News of Marc Leishman, who I kind of forgot about after his bogey-par-bogey start. Sorry. Leishman was one of the players named as a lurking threat this week, and no wonder with his most acceptable record in the majors - five top-ten finishes in the last six years. He’s since birdied 13 and 18 to bring himself back up to level par. Now at 3, having started by sending a huge slice into the deepest nonsense down the right, he’s up and down from a greenside bunker for a wonderful par escape. Meanwhile his playing partner Rory McIlroy trundles in a high-speed 30-foot putt for another birdie, and suddenly one of the pre-tournament favourites is one place off the lead!
-5: Piercy (15)
-3: Straka (16*), Rahm (12*), McIlroy (12*), Fowler (11), DeChambeau (11*), Woodland (10), Hardy (8)
Updated
Sergio! He’s made an absolute show of himself in the majors recently. He’s not made a cut since the 2017 Open! That is an abysmal record, albeit one which strongly suggests the feet went up on the desk, a nice tumbler of sherry and the cigar on, after that long-overdue major win at Augusta earlier that year. It’d be nice for him to regain some focus, and the early signs this week are good. An opening bogey at 10 has been followed by birdies at 13, 14 and now 18, and he’s played the back nine in 34. He’s -2! He’s back, baby . Actually, I’m not saying that.
A big break for DJ on 2, as he hooks his tee shot towards the punters along the left. His ball just clears the knotted stuff, and sits up nicely in rough trodden down by the gallery. Still not an easy second shot, but he’ll take that result. Elsewhere, another birdie for Sepp Straka, this time at 7, and he joins the group at -3. That group includes another unlikely name, in 23-year-old Nick Hardy, who is playing in his third US Open after a tie for 52nd at Chambers Bay in 2015 and a missed cut at Oakmont a year later.
A measure of how deep the rough can be at Pebble Beach: DJ can only hack out from the stuff down the right of 1 and into similarly thick rubbish on the other side of the fairway. He stretched every sinew. But then he whips his third to ten feet, a shot not far off miraculous from that tangled lie. In goes the par saver, and that’s an amazing scramble. He remains at -1. It’ll be interesting to see if Brooks Koepka can power his way out of this cabbage like he did last month at Bethpage Black, where it hardly mattered where his sometimes off-line drives ended up. If not - and that’s not certain if power players like Big Dustin are struggling - expect a change of tactic.
A fine birdie for Rory McIlroy at 2! The long par-four 2nd is one of the hardest holes on the course, and the 2011 champ makes a mockery of it. A booming drive, then a wonderfully controlled second to ten feet. In goes the putt, and this is suddenly turning into a decent round after a sluggish start. He’s -2. Meanwhile another birdie for Tommy Fleetwood at 18: that’s his third in four holes! He’s played the harder back nine in 33; in this form, it’ll be very interesting to see what he can do on the supposedly easier front nine. These things are all relative, of course, this being the US Open. But you get the general gist.
Bryson DeChambeau started out with bogey at 10. But since then he’s been flawless: birdies at 12, 13, 16 and now 1, and he joins Jon Rahm and Gary Woodland in second spot at -3. Exactly how Rahm remains there himself is a good question: having found a deep greenside bunker at 2, it looked for all the world like he’d be dropping a shot, but then he flopped out delicately and was so unlucky not to hole out, his ball rolling impolitely by.
DJ can’t make his eagle putt on 18. Birdie will suffice. Though then he takes an iron off the 1st tee for safety, and whistles it into the rough down the right. Oh Dustin! Meanwhile the co-leaders go their separate ways: birdie for Scott Piercy at the par-five 14th, while a wayward drive at 9 costs Gary Woodland a shot.
-5: Piercy (14)
-3: Rahm (10*), Woodland (9)
There are a couple of US Open debutants doing very well. Sepp Straka was born in Vienna, but Austria means nothing to him now: he moved to the States as a teenager and he’s since become an American citizen. He’s the first Austria-born player to earn a place on the PGA Tour, and only the second to tee it up in this tournament after Bernd Wiesberger. Having played the back nine in 36, he’s birdied 2 and 4, and he’s in a tie for fourth at -2. Also at -2, the 24-year-old Spaniard Adri Arnaus, who is a European Tour debutant this season, and made it to Pebble Beach after a good show in a qualifier at Walton Heath in Surrey. Arnaus played the back nine in 35, and he’s recently birdied 2. Both players holding their own in a group at -2 that also includes Erik van Rooyen, Thorbjorn Olesen, Rickie Fowler, Bryson DeChambeau, Tyrrell Hatton, Hideki Matsuyama, Matt Wallace ... and Tommy Fleetwood, who follows up his birdie at 15 with another at 17.
The 18th at Pebble Beach is one of the most daunting holes in professional golf. Hugging the bay on the left, with plenty of trouble on the right too, there’s little margin for error. Dustin Johnson has just crashed a 330-yard drive down it, then eased a 7-iron pin high to 20 feet. Goodness knows what Brooks Koepka is going to do to it later this afternoon. His partner Phil Mickelson, by way of contrast, needed a fairway wood to reach in two, and could only send his ball into the sand to the right of the green anyway.
Another birdie for Gary Woodland, this time at 8. And he joins Scott Piercy in the lead at -4. On 1, Rahm and McIlroy both find the green in regulation. The former will have a good look at birdie; the latter faces a long two putts for par. Meanwhile Matt Wallace, so impressive at the PGA last month in tying for third, is going along nicely. An early bogey at 2 has been thoroughly wiped out by birdies at 4, 6 and 7. He’s -2.
Eagle-eyed readers will have noticed a little switcheroo at the top of that leader board. Thorbjorn Olesen drops off it after bogey at 11; he’s -2. Louis Oosthuizen joins the group in second spot with birdie at 14. Elsewhere, Tommy Fleetwood has started very steadily: six pars plus a birdie at 15, and the much-fancied English star is -1. And there’s no way for DJ to get close at 17. He’s forced to chip from the collar of the green, landing his ball 15 feet from the hole. He can’t make the putt and that’s a bogey that drops him back to level par.
Rahm can’t make his eagle putt. The ball took a bobble en route to the hole, and he’ll have to make do with bounce-back birdie. Out in 33. He’s still a shot off the lead, because on the par-three 12th, Scott Piercy whips his tee shot to 12 feet, and tidies up for birdie. He’s responded really well to making that double-bogey on 8, steadying the ship and now moving in the right direction again. A fine up-and-down for McIlroy on 18, incidentally, chipping to a couple of feet and saving his par after a very wayward journey down a taxing hole.
-4: Piercy (12)
-3: Rahm (9*), Fowler (8), Woodland (7), Oosthuizen (5*)
One step forward, another back for DJ? His tee shot at 17 is really poor. It finds the apron of the green, which sounds OK on the face of it, but he’s miles to the right with the pin away on the left. Plus the fact, the green’s shaped like an hourglass, and the shoulder of a bunker is in his line. He’ll have a job getting that close.
Rahm takes the brave line down 18, booming a drive down the left of the fairway. Caring not a jot for the waves crashing in from that side of the hole. He’s rewarded when he caresses a long iron pin high to 12 feet, from where he’ll have a great look at eagle. Some bother for Rory, though, who shoves his drive into thick trouble down the right, then finds a fairway bunker with his second. He can’t reach the green in three, so will have an up and down from 60 yards or so to save his par.
Updated
Trouble for Lefty down 16. A wayward tee shot into the rough down the left, then a second hoicked into a greenside bunker. He can’t get up and down. Bogey. But his partner DJ races a 25-footer into the cup, and that’s his second birdie in three holes. He’s -1. Yet another par for G-Mac, who is grinding it out like he did on Sunday all those years ago.
This is already a very exciting leader board. A roll-call of stars, like an ATV Sunday evening spectacular from 1961. So many stories to be told over the next four days.
-3: Piercy (11), Olesen (10), Fowler (7), Woodland (6)
-2: Rahm (8*), Day (7), DeChambeau (7*), Hatton (6), Matsuyama (5*), Oosthuizen (4*)
Another birdie for Thorbjorn Olesen, who flashes his second from 200 yards to ten feet, and he joins Scott Piercy in the lead at -3! Also grabbing a share: Rickie Fowler with birdie at 7, and Gary Woodland with his third birdie in a row, at 6. Jon Rahm moves the other way, though, as he can’t make his par saver on 17. A little too aggressive, and it lips out on the right. His first bogey of the day, and he’s back to -2. But another birdie for Rory, much deserved after that tee shot. He’s -1, that slow start suddenly forgotten.
The par-three 17th is one of the hardest holes at Pebble Beach. Always one of the biggest tests here in US Open competition. The sea to the left and the back. The co-leader Rahm tugs his tee shot way left, and though it doesn’t topple down the bank towards a sandy, possibly wet fate, it’s snagged in thick fescue. There’s a bunker in the road, and not too much green to work with either. He does extremely well to gently land the ball 12 feet from the hole. If he escapes with par from that ... well, he’s made some saves already today, so there’d be no big surprise. McIlroy by contrast arrows his tee shot straight at the flag, and he’ll have an uphill look at birdie from ten feet or so.
Another birdie for Jason Dufner! This one’s at 8, his fourth in five holes. And Gary Woodland’s late flowering in the majors looks set to continue: after good showings at the last two PGAs, the big-hitting 35-year-old from Kansas continues to show in the top tournaments. Birdies at 4 and 5, and he’s made some room for himself on the leader board. As has Hideki Matsuyama, suddenly a presence after eagle at 14! Plenty of big names up there already.
-3: Piercy (10), Rahm (7*)
-2: Olesen (9), Dufner (8), Fowler (6), Hatton (5), Woodland (5), Matsuyama (5*), Oosthuizen (4*)
A dropped shot for Dustin Johnson at 13 ... but no matter, because he picks it back up again at the par-five 14th, in trademark ludicrous circumstances. He wangs his second near a tree down the left, the trunk bothering his backswing. He does pretty well to get his ball on the green, albeit nowhere particularly close to the hole. But in goes the birdie putt. The 2016 champ is level par. A birdie for Phil Mickelson too, who had creamed a fairway wood to 12 feet but couldn’t make the eagle putt. Still, Lefty’s search for that elusive title has started solidly, and he’s -1, just two off the early lead set by Piercy and Rahm.
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Bubba Watson doesn’t really have the game for a US Open, does he? The two-time Masters champion found himself in the final group on Saturday at the 2007 US Open at Oakmont, but that was as good as it ever got. He finished tied for fifth that year, and has done absolutely nothing in the tournament since, missing the cut more often than not. His approach to the game perhaps a bit too free-jazz for the tight fairways and penal rough of his national championship. Anyway, he’s started with four bogeys in the first seven holes, at 1, 2, 6 and 7, a run offset by a single birdie at 3. He’s +3.
A couple of magnificent par saves on 15. McIlroy rattles in a 15-foot putt to remain at level par, while Rahm chips delicately from thick nonsense at the back of the hole to a couple of feet. Rahm’s in particular was a jaw-dropping scramble; he was in really deep bother down a hill there. Meanwhile great news regarding Jason Dufner, the Somnambulist having finally woken up at last. Having opened with a double, he’s just birdied 4, 5 and 6, and is suddenly in very good nick at -1.
Tyrrell Hatton will have been walking on air for the last 13 days. Why? Squint hard and you may find a small clue here:
GIVEAWAY TIME!!!
— Tyrrell Hatton (@TyrrellHatton) June 12, 2019
As there was so much love for the previous post @PingTour have stamped up another @LFC inspired wedge!
For a chance to win, follow me & RT!!!
Winner announced on Sunday after close of play. Good luck 😬
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Anyway, he’ll be almost as happy with his start here. Birdies at 1 and 4, and he’s joined the group behind Piercy and Rahm at -2. Meanwhile Erik van Rooyen, who played so well at the PGA last month, is enjoying himself on his US Open debut: the 29-year-old South African has responded to an opening bogey at 1 with birdies at 3, 6 and now 9. Out in 33, and he’s -2 as well.
It’s been an eventful start to Thorbjorn Olesen’s round. The 29-year-old Dane has only parred three of the first eight holes. Bogeys at 2 and 5, an eagle at 6, and birdies at 4 and now 8. He’s at -2, and joined there by Rickie Fowler, who has reached the mark by more conventional means, with birdies at 2 and 4. Meanwhile a gorgeous putt from down the swale at the back of 14 by the co-leader Rahm, who stays in position with a lovely feel up and over the bank to kick-in range. That’ll save his par. Fives for McIlroy (E) and Leishman (+1) too. And a chip-in from the fairway at 11 for eagle by Louis Oosthuizen, who makes a habit of this sort of thing at the majors: that albatross at Augusta, a birdie from the fairway at Chambers Bay. Now there’s a player who’s overdue a second major, having finished as runner-up in the lot since his 2010 Open breakthrough.
-3: Piercy (8), Rahm (5*)
-2: Olesen (8), Fowler (4), Oosthuizen (2*)
How quickly it can all change. Two holes after his eagle at 6, the early runaway leader Scott Piercy doubles 8. He was always out of position after finding the cabbage from the tee. Meanwhile Rahm, now the co-leader, has found a little trouble at the par-five 14th, forced to chip out from the rough after a wild drive, then sending his third over a bank down the back. Not a lot of green to work with there.
-3: Piercy (8), Rahm (4*)
-1: Gagne -a- (9*), Van Rooyen (8), Olesen (7), Arnaus (7*), Scheffler (7*), Z Johnson (4), Fowler (3), Kisner (4*), DeChambeau (4*), Hatton (2)
DJ in a spot of bother at the par-three 12th, having sent his tee shot over the back and down a very furry bank. He’s forced to lash out high, doing pretty well to land his ball 20 feet past the flag. And then he rolls in the par saver! That’s a quite sensational up and down. That’s a par-par-par start for the world number two. And it’s three pars for both G-Mac and Lefty, the former happy enough, the latter not so much after missing a ten-foot left-to-right slider after getting a bit of luck with a tee shot that had come up short but sprung out of the rough at the front of the green.
McIlroy rolls in his birdie putt too! He’s back to level par. Rahm misreads his effort, though, the ball surprising him by breaking to the left at the last. So that’s a disappointing end to his opening salvo, but the occasionally hot-tempered Spaniard walks off with a smile nonetheless. Speaking of hot-tempered Spaniards, Sergio may well be bubbling away already, having opened with a bogey, failing to get up and down from Mickelson’s bunker to the left of 10.
Rahm is pin high at 13 in two. He’s got a 12-footer for a daydream-like fourth birdie from four. Rory’s given himself a chance too, sending a wedge straight at the flag, leaving a ten-footer to get back to level par. Marc Leishman is the furthest away, and faces a slippery downhill 20-footer with a big left to right break. But the Aussie judges it perfectly, teasing it in for a birdie that goes some way to repairing the damage of that bogey at 10, and a failure to get up and down from sand at 12; he’s +1.
Ouch. The first triple bogey of the week is made by the 2017 Players champion Kim Si-woo. After three lashes out of the thick rough down the side of 2, the last thing you want to be doing is missing a tiddler for double. It can all go wrong so quickly at this grand tournament. He’s +3 in short order. Here’s Hubert O’Hearn: “I truly love Pebble Beach, truth told my favourite course in the world. My picks to click are all in the same group, the 4.24 tee time of Fleetwood, Matsuyama and (drum roll) Our Man Sergio! I’m feeling it! Second major coming! Just mixing an extra spicy Bloody Mary now to get in the mood for some hot Spanish golf action.” Given how Rahm’s carrying on, I hope you’ve treated yourself to a big pour.
Scott Piercy has just eagled the par-five 6th, creaming his second from 216 yards to kick-in distance! He’s -5 after six holes! Hold on! It’s the US Open! And he’s not the only one out of the blocks with indecent haste. Jon Rahm knocks in his putt on 12, and he’s opened with three birdies. To reiterate: it’s the US Open. We’re not even two hours in, and look at this ...
-5: Piercy (6)
-3: Rahm (3*)
-1: Gagne -a- (7*), Van Rooyen (6), Olesen (6), Grillo (5), Stanley (3*), Fowler (2), Hatton (1)
A stunning up and down from sand by Mickelson at 10. Having sent his approach into the bunker front left, he’s left with a downhill lie in a rake mark. He’s shortsided, and the green’s sloping away towards the beach. Eek. He gently scoops it out, the ball rolling 12 feet past the hole, sheer magic from where he was. And in goes the par saver. Pars too for DJ and G-Mac.
Updated
“That wasn’t my best contact.” Jon Rahm there, talking to his caddie after arrowing one straight at the flag at the par-three 12th. We should all play so badly. He’s left himself an eight footer for a third birdie in his first three holes. Meanwhile a poor start to the tournament by the 2014 winner Martin Kaymer. Bogeys at 1 and 2 and he’s already +2. And an equally miserable start by the 2016 Masters champ Danny Willett, who bogeys 10, 11 and 12 and is currently propping up the entire field at +3.
McIlroy will have been a little shaken after that opening bogey. There was plenty of pre-tournament hype around the 2011 champion, on account of last Sunday’s 61 in Canada, but his recent US Open form needs to be taken into consideration as well. He’s missed the last three cuts, opening with a 77 at Oakmont in 2016, a 78 at Erin Hills in 2017, and an 80 last year at Shinnecock Hills. He wouldn’t be human if a small alarm bell isn’t ringing in the back of his mind. So he makes a decent fist of 11, setting himself up with an uphill 25-foot birdie chance that only just stays on the right lip. So close to cancelling out that dropped shot. He stays at +1 ... and he’s already three behind his partner Jon Rahm, who eases his second pin high to ten feet, then calmly rattles in another birdie putt!
-3: Piercy (5)
-2: Rahm (2*)
-1: Gagne -a- (6*), Grillo (5), Rebula -a- (3), Stanley (2*)
Updated
Should Phil Mickelson lift the famous old trophy on Sunday, and complete a career slam on his 49th birthday, he’ll become the oldest player in history to win a major. He’s started well, cracking his opening tee shot at 10 down the middle. He’s out with a couple of players who only have the one major to their name, but it’s the one Lefty doesn’t have: the 2016 champion Dustin Johnson and the 2010 winner, here at Pebble Beach, Graeme McDowell. DJ and G-Mac also find the fairway with their tee shots.
It’s a cool morning at Pebble Beach, with only a light breeze to bother the players. By comparison, Scott Piercy is so hot right now, and blowing up a storm. A third birdie in four holes, this time at the par-three 5th, after knocking his tee shot to six feet. He’s got a two-shot lead at the US Open! Just the 67 holes to go.
-3: Piercy (5)
-1: Gagne -a- (5*), Grillo (4), Rahm (1*)
And it’s a fast start for Jon Rahm! He’s the only one of the three players in the first featured group to find the green with his approach. It’s not particularly great, but at least he’s left himself an uphill putt from 30 feet. And in it goes! He joins Piercy and Gagne - and Emiliano Grillo, who birdies 4 - at -1. Leishman meanwhile sends his second into thick stuff at the back. He can’t get up and down, and that’s bogey. As for Rory? He pulls his second into the bunker front left, and can only bash out to 15 feet. He can’t make the saver, and that’s a bogey as well.
It’s a fast start for Scott Piercy. A second birdie, this time at the short par-four 4th, after a wedge sent in close, and he’s -2. Of the 36 players currently to have completed at least one hole, Piercy is one of only two under par ... the other being the 21-year-old Costa Rican amateur Luis Gagne, who has followed bogey at 12 with back-to-back birdies at 13 and 14! There are seven players at level par.
-2: Piercy (4)
-1: Gagne -a- (5*)
One of this morning’s featured groups start out at 10: the in-form Rory McIlroy, fresh off his win at the Canadian Open last week; Jon Rahm, a major champ in waiting; and Marc Leishman, who has five top-ten finishes in the majors to his name, and is a good dark-horse shout for success this week. All three crash their drives safely down the hole, though McIlroy was watching his intently for a second or two, the ball flying dangerously close to the right edge of the fairway ... dangerously close to the rocks and the beach below. But he’s safe.
A disastrous start to the week for our old friend Jason Dufner. The 2013 PGA champion whistled his opening drive at 1 into the long stuff down the left. Two attempts to escape from the rough later, and that’s a double bogey for the famously uber-relaxed Somnambulist, who might not be appreciating this early start. At least he knocked in his short putt for the double, small mercies for a player who has been yipping quite a few tiddlers of late. Onwards and upwards.
Oh go on, then, the first birdie of the week. It’s been made by Scott Piercy, who came in second behind Dustin Johnston at Oakmont three years ago. He sent an iron on 2 from 200 yards to ten feet, then knocked in the putt to become the first man into red figures at this US Open. Never to be sniffed at. Mind you, the early talk is that Pebble Beach may offer up a few more birdies than usual, on account of some very receptive greens. Time will tell, of course, and there’s always that super-penal rough to balance things out. There’s nothing quite like the uncertainty and trepidation generated by the US Open, is there?
It’s traditional on these live Guardian golf blogs to record which player made the first birdie of the week. But nobody in the first six groups has made one yet, and in any case, this being the historically difficult US Open, it’s surely more appropriate to record the first bogey. Sam Saunders’ playing partner Carlos Ortiz has that dubious honour, dropping a shot at 1 and illustrating the importance of not finding the thicker, lusher rough off the tee. A weekender-style hack-out was his only option, a dropped shot the inevitable consequence. And the first double-bogey of the week has just been made by the 20-year-old Taiwanese amateur Kevin Yu, who couldn’t extricate himself from the thick stuff down the right of the long par-four 2nd, and he’s +2. He won’t be the last.
Here we go then ... and the first shot of this year’s US Open has been hit by Sam Saunders, the 31-year-old grandson of the 1960 champion Arnold Palmer. The USGA deliberately put Saunders out first in order to honour the legacy of the King. It’s safe to say Saunders won’t be reaching the stellar heights of his grandfather - his best (and only) previous performance at a major was tie for 50th at Chambers Bay in the 2015 US Open - but at least he whistled this opening tribute down the fairway, en route to making par.
Welcome to the 119th United States Open Championship!
Only one man has ever won the US Open in three consecutive years. Step forward Willie Anderson of North Berwick, Scotland, who emigrated to the States as a teenager and won the national championship on four occasions, in 1901, 1903, 1904 and 1905. Before his first victory, at the Myopia Hunt Club in Massachusetts, all competitors were informed that they were to dine in the kitchen, as professionals were not allowed in the clubhouse due to their reputation for boozing, carousing, effing and jeffing. Anderson responded to this news by hacking up some huge divots while shouting “naw naw naw” in a trenchant manner. Not long after, a tent was hastily erected by petrified officials and the players were able to eat their luncheon in comfort.
The sensational Brooks Koepka could repeat Anderson’s three-peat this week. The 2017 and 2018 champion is the hottest thing in golf right now. The world number one recently decimated the field at the PGA, winning his fourth major title in his last eight (!) attempts. Throw in a tie for second at this year’s Masters, and we’re dealing with the sort of domination not seen since Tiger in his pomp. And like Anderson before him, he performs best when he’s propelled by a little heat under the collar. His latest PGA win was fuelled by a perceived lack of respect from the punditocracy; now he’s raging because Fox Sports didn’t feature him in one of their four US Open trailers. The fact that he’s in the other three, and that one of those is about him alone, isn’t the point. Koepka’s got the funk on. Everyone else watch out!
Speaking of Tiger in his pomp ... the great man’s back at the scene of his record-breaking win in 2000. He shot 65-69-71-67 - the level-par 71 was the best round, incidentally, made with wind whipping in from Carmel Bay and sending the rest of the field into a flat spin - and ended the week at -12, a mere 15 shots clear of second-placed Miguel Angel Jimenez and Ernie Els. Having finally won major number 15 at Augusta in April, the Tiger tail is up and he fancies this one. He’s one of four short-priced favourites, along with Koepka and former champions Dustin Johnson (second at the Masters and the PGA) and Rory McIlroy (winner last week in Canada after coming very close to a 59).
Also much fancied this week: the in-form Patrick Cantlay, a resurgent Jordan Spieth, the 2013 winner Justin Rose, eternal bridesmaid Rickie Fowler, the grind-lovin’ Justin Thomas, the super-consistent Xander Schauffele, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama ... we could go on. Oh, and Phil Mickelson will be making yet another attempt to claim the one that keeps getting away, and complete his career slam on his 49th birthday. The possibilities are endless. Who will join Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite, Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson Graeme McDowell as a Pebble Beach US Open champion? We’ll know in four long days’ time. US Open fever is raging; won’t someone please call Dr Golf? It’s on!
The tee times. Starting on the first hole ...
2.45pm: Sam Saunders, Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Marcus Fraser (Aus)
2.56pm: Scott Piercy, Erik Van Rooyen (SA), Kevin Yu a (Tpe)
3.07pm: Ryan Fox (NZ), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Emiliano Grillo (Arg)
3.18pm: Scottie Scheffler, Matt Parziale a, Nick Taylor (Can)
3.29pm: Patton Kizzire, Jovan Rebula a (SA), Jason Dufner
3.40pm: Li Haotong (Chn), Bubba Watson, JB Holmes
3.51pm: Zach Johnson, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Ernie Els (SA)
4.02pm: Kim Si-woo (Kor), Rickie Fowler, Jason Day (Aus)
4.13pm: Shane Lowry (Ire), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Gary Woodland
4.24pm: Cameron Smith (AUS), Matthew Wallace (ENG), Xander Schauffele
4.35pm: CT Pan (Tpe), Abraham Ancer (Mex), Brandon Wu a
4.46pm: Chan Kim, Justin Walters (SA), Harris English
4.57pm: Nick Hardy, Noah Norton a, Andreas Halvorsen (Nor)
8.30pm: Rory Sabbatini (Svk) Sam Horsfield (Eng) Roberto Castro
8.41pm: Cameron Young a, Marcus Kinhult (Swe), Brian Stuard
8.52pm: Luke Guthrie, Joseph Bramlett, Charlie Danielson
9.03pm: Austin Eckroat a, Alexander Noren (Swe), Charles Howell
9.14pm: Thomas Pieters (Bel), Chesson Hadley, Stewart Hagestad a
9.25pm: Paul Casey (Eng), Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover
9.36pm: Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha), Keith Mitchell, Shugo Imahira (Jpn)
9.47pm: Francesco Molinari (Ita), Viktor Hovland a (Nor), Brooks Koepka
9.58pm: Tony Finau, Jimmy Walker, Ian Poulter (Eng)
10.09pm: Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose (Eng), Tiger Woods
10.20pm: Daniel Berger, Matthew Jones (Aus), Kodai Ichihara (Jpn)
10.31pm: Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Chandler Eaton a, Callum Tarren (Eng)
10.42pm: Eric Dietrich, Guillermo Pereira (Chn), Brett Drewitt (Aus)
... and starting on the 10th hole ...
2.45pm: Luis Gagne a, Sepp Straka, Julian Etulain (Arg)
2.56pm: Dean Burmester (SA), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Lee Kyoung-hoon (Kor)
3.07pm: Clement Sordet (Fra), Tom Hoge, Adri Arnaus (Spa)
3.18pm: Brian Davis (Eng), Kevin O’Connell a, Billy Hurley III
3.29pm: Brendon Todd, Luke Donald (Eng), Mike Weir (Can)
3.40pm: Kyle Stanley, Billy Horschel, Danny Willett (Eng)
3.51pm: Jon Rahm (Spa), Marc Leishman (Aus), Rory McIlroy (NI)
4.02pm: Justin Thomas, Kevin Kisner, Bryson DeChambeau
4.13pm: Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Graeme McDowell (NI)
4.24pm: Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
4.35pm: Jhonattan Vegas (Ven), Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen (SA)
4.46pm: Rob Oppenheim, Rhys Enoch (Wal), Richard Lee
4.57pm: Andy Pope, Ryan Sullivan, Matthew Naumec
8.30pm: Nathan Lashley, Renato Paratore (Ita), Lee Slattery (Eng)
8.41pm: Joel Dahmen, Collin Morikawa, Aaron Wise
8.52pm: Merrick Bremner (SA), Chip McDaniel, Cody Gribble
9.03pm: Michael Thorbjornsen a, Chez Reavie, David Toms
9.14pm: Rafa Cabrera Bello (Spa), Kevin Na, Keegan Bradley
9.25pm: Jim Furyk, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Brandt Snedeker
9.47pm: Webb Simpson, Adam Scott (Aus), Matt Kuchar
9.58pm: An Byeong-hun (Kor), Devon Bling a, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng)
10.09pm: Justin Harding (SA), Aaron Baddeley (Aus), Andrew Putnam
10.20pm: Ollie Schniederjans, Mikumu Horikawa (Jpn), Anirban Lahiri (Ind)
10.31pm: Daniel Hillier a (NZ), Alex Prugh, Zac Blair
10.42pm: Hayden Shieh, Spencer Tibbits a, Connor Arendell
