One month ago, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau combined for one of the most compelling, nerve-wracking U.S. Opens in recent memory. Thursday, they both made a mess of Royal Troon, and sit well off the lead. Both could rebound from early adversity — they certainly have before — but they’ll have plenty of work to do to get back in contention.
DeChambeau, who won that U.S. Open duel, stumbled right from the start at Royal Troon, bogeying his first hole and three of his first four. He would go on to make the turn at +6, one of many players who found Troon’s front nine to be far tougher than expected.
The back nine ended up being more kind to DeChambeau; he parred his way to a bogey on the 15th, but managed an eagle at the par-5 16th. He would go on to finish at +5 on the day, eight strokes off the clubhouse lead.
Two games behind DeChambeau, McIlroy hit his rough patch around the turn. He cleaned up a first-hole bogey with a third-hole birdie. But the wheels fell off with a double-bogey on the par 3 8th, followed with a bogey on the 10th and another double on the 11th. McIlroy finished bogeys on the 15th and 18th to finish the day at +7, a full 10 strokes off the lead.
Spitting rain and winds swirling at up to 23 miles per hour caused havoc for the entire field throughout the morning. Justin Thomas fought his way to a -3 round with two birdies to finish his round, and that number held up through most of the morning.
Along with Scottie Scheffler, McIlroy and DeChambeau were two of the betting favorites heading into this week. Scheffler is part of Thursday’s afternoon wave, teeing off shortly after DeChambeau finished, but it’s already clear that two of the game’s biggest names will have to scramble to make the weekend.
