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Key events
A similar fate befell Matt Fitzpatrick at 11. His ball lands softly in the center of the green…but not soft enough to stick. He goes over the back and his kick almost goes back to his feet. He decides to chip a second time and stops his ball four feet from the flag. Probably what he should have done the first time. He putst to limit the bogey damage and returns to par. Meanwhile on 14, McKibbin chips to eight feet, then gets in a par saver. This already feels right US Open. Brutal but brilliantly funny.
Big almost-man Matt Kuchar’s opening birdie for the title at the par-five 10th. Meanwhile on 14, a first test of patience for Tom McKibbin, who appears to have sent a perfect second into the green, only for the ball to drop slow-oo-owl down the fairway on the right. With not much green to work with, he still has some work to do if he wants to get up and down from there.
Tiger Woods left early and it didn’t take long for the three-time champion to make his mark. He sends his second on the par-five 10th into the thin scrub to the right of the fairway. But he bogeys his third from 60 yards to 12 feet, then walks in the birdie putt. He hasn’t lost it. Birdie, too, for 2022 champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who is teeing off with Woods today. And on 13, birdie for Tom McKibbin, the 21-year-old from Hollywood, the same club Rory McIlroy played as a young dog. He already has the European Open on his CV and some people will tell you he has the potential to go as far, maybe even further, as the 2011 champion. Well, making his major debut this week, he starts good.
-1: McKibbin (4*), Power (3*), Morales -a- (2), Woods (1*), Fitzpatrick (1*)
Seamus Power, who tied for 12th at Brooklyn a few years ago, birdies 11 to join the boys at -1. On Sky, pundit Rich Beam explains how the way Pinehurst is set up – not so much in the way of particularly punishing rough, but lots of sand and bush, and a turtle green with a very dramatic run-off – could play a part in the soft hands of another Irish star , Shane Lowry. A top-drawer chip game and a reputation as someone who can think of something to relieve anxiety is a positive asset this week. That being said, how about Jordan Spieth, who may be out of form and a 66-1 outsider in some places, but has Seve-style escapology skills and won at Chambers Bay in 2015 when the ball was rolling all over the store? Any way can be your friend.
… so there’s something pretty sweet about having the first birds of the week done by amateurs! Parker Bell, 20, who plays for the University of Florida, birdied 1, some way to start his debut round at the US Open; 21-year-old Mexican Omar Morales, playing in his second straight game US Open, soon reached the feat. It can’t go on – it won’t go on – so it’s only fair that we celebrate their achievement with the first chart of the week.
-1: Bell -a- (1), Morales -a- (1)
As the sun came up, Carter Jenkins, Logan McAllister and Michael McGowan hit the first shots of this tournament on the 1st. Meanwhile over 10, Rico Hoey, Matteo Manassero and Tom McKibbin were starting on 10. After much discussion about the difficulty of Pinehurst No.2 this week, it is perhaps instructive to note that of the six players mentioned above, only McAllister and McKibben ruled para. Jenkins bogeyed, Howie and McGowan doubled, and Manassero started his round with a triple-bogey eight, the result of a putt from the bottom of the swale back to his feet. Welcome in US OpenLadies and Gentlemen!
Preamble
World number one Scotty Scheffler is a lot short prices to win his first US Open and his sixth PGA Tour event in his last nine starts. He already has this year’s Masters Tournament and Players Championship in the bag, and let’s be honest, there’s a good chance he’d win the PGA Championship too, if he hadn’t been farcically arrested on Friday morning and the Tour priest stood up for his regular caddy on Saturday. The man is as cool as a tall glass of Arnold Palmer on the porch in the summer shade. If he is not in the mix on Sunday afternoon, it will be a surprise.
Then again, US Open is golf’s toughest test and can make anyone’s pint. (Defending champion Wyndham Clark points out to anyone who will listen that the hard, fast, domed greens are “borderline,” so expect some shots.) It’s a tournament that often produces a surprise winner — Clark, Matt Fitzpatrick, Gary Woodland, Graham McDowell and at the last two US Opens held at Pinehurst, Michael Campbell and Martin Kaymer – so take your pick from a star-studded field. The usual suspects will of course fancy their chances – Scheffler, new PGA champion Xander Schaufele, Rory McIlroy, a resurgent Colin Morikawa, Viktor and Ludwig, Bryson and Brooks – so there’s plenty of potential for a major for the ages.
Here are the opening moments (USA, unless stated, all times BST, (a) denotes amateurs). It’s on!
Starting from hole 1
1145 Carter Jenkins, Logan McAllister, Michael McGowan
1156 (a) Parker Bell, Frederick Ketrup (Day), Christopher Petefish
1207 Max Gracerman, Casey Jarvis (Rsa), (a) Omar Morales (Mexico)
1218 Corey Connors (Can), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Stefan Jaeger (Ger)
1229 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Ryo Ishikawa (Japan), Francesco Molinari (Ita)
1240 Brooks Koepka, Colin Morikawa, Justin Thomas
1251 Rickie Fowler, Adam Hadwin (Can), Phil Mickelson
1302 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den), Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Sahith Theegala
1313 Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Si-Woo Kim (Kor), Matthieu Pavon (Fra)
1324 Nicolas Echavarria (Col.), Robert Rock (Eng.), (a) Neil Shipley
1335 (a) Stuart Hagestad, Takumi Kanaya (Japan), Mack Meissner
1346 Jim Herman, (a) Brian Kim, Isaiah Salinda
1357 (a) Colin Prater, Charles Reiter, Carson Schaake
1730 Brandon Thompson (England), Jason Scrivener (Australia), (a) Brendan Valdes
1741 Sam Bairstow (England), (a) Santiago de la Fuente (Mexico), Eugenio Lopez-Chakara (Spa)
1752 Christian Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Kurt Kitayama, Taylor Moore
1803 Jason Day (Aus), Harris English, Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor)
1814 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Xander Schaufele, Scotty Scheffler
1825 Wyndham Clarke, Nick Dunlap, Brian Harman
1836 Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), John Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth
1847 Keegan Bradley, Martin Keimer (Germany), Shane Lowry (Ireland)
1858 Akshay Bhatia, Eric Cole, Eric van Rooyen (Rsa)
1909 Alexander Noren (Swe), Taylor Pendrith (Can), Brendan Todd
1920 (a) Jackson Buchanan, Brian Campbell, Thomas Detry (Bell)
1931 (a) Gunnar Broin, Maxwell Moldovan, Taisei Shimuzu (Japan)
1942 John Chin, Sung-Hoon Kang (Cor), Ricky Kawamoto (Japan)
Starting at hole 10
1145 Rico Howie (Fi), Matteo Manassero (Ita), Tom McKibbin (NIrl)
1156 Dean Burmester (Rsa), Rikuya Hoshino (Japan), Seamus Power (Irl)
1207 Seong-Hyeon Kim (Kor), Justin Lower, Tim Widing (Swe)
1218 Sam Burns, Lucas Glover, Cameron Smith (Australia)
1229 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Tiger Woods, Will Zalatoris
1240 Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Matt Kuchar
1251 Ludwig Aberg (Swe), Tony Finau, Dustin Johnson
1302 Justin Rose (Eng), Webb Simpson, Gary Woodland
1313 Daniel Berger, Ryan Fox (Nzl), David Puig (Spa)
1324 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Sam Bennett, Edoardo Molinari (Ita)
1335 Cameron Davies (Australia), Austin Eckroth, Adrian Meronk (Paul)
1346 Zachary Blair, Aaron Rye (Eng), Davies Thompson
1357 Willie Mack III, Richard Mansell (Eng), (a) Ashton McCulloch (Can)
1730 Grant Forrest (Sco), Grayson Sigg, (a) Wells Williams
1741 Chesson Hadley, Mark Hubbard, Adam Svensson (Can)
1752 Bo Hosler, Victor Perez (Fra), Adam Schenck
1803 Mackenzie Hughes (Cannes), Robert McIntyre (Scotland), Nick Taylor (Cannes)
1814 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Tyrell Hatton (Eng), Tom Hodge
1825 Bryson DeChambeau, Max Homa, Victor Hovland (Nor)
1836 Peter Malnati, JT Poston, Sep Straka (authors)
1847 Jake Knapp, (a) Gordon Sargent, Cameron Young
1858 Billy Horschel, Chris Kirk, Adam Scott (Australia)
1909 (a) Benjamin James, Ben Coles, Denny McCarthy
1920 Frankie Capan, (a) Luke Clanton, Andrew Svoboda
1931 Harry Higgs, (a) Hiroshi Tai (Sgp), Brandon Wu
1942 Otto Black, Chris Nagel, Joey Vrzic
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