The U.S. Open is off and running at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina, and we’ve already got a tight battle at the top of the leaderboard.
Coming into the week, it seemed as if everyone was going to be chasing Scottie Scheffler — who is on a heater not seen since Tiger Woods’ heyday. Scheffler, however, had a very average round. The top-ranked golfer in the world finished with a 1-over 71, which had him six shots off the lead.
Instead, it was Patrick Cantlay who took advantage in the early wave. He made three birdies in his final five holes of the day to card his 5-under 65. That briefly gave him a two-shot lead over the field when he entered the clubhouse. Cantlay needed just 23 putts in his round, which marked a career-low for him at a major. Ludvig Åberg finished at 4-under in his first ever round at the U.S. Open, which has him alone in third.
It was Rory McIlroy who dominated the late wave on Thursday afternoon. McIlroy carded a bogey-free 65 to match Cantlay in the lead, thanks to a huge walk-in birdie at the 18th to end his round.
McIlroy hasn’t won a major championship in a decade now, but he’s started the last six U.S. Opens with a round in the red. He finished in second in Los Angeles last summer, too.
Bryson DeChambeau was right with McIlroy briefly, too. He dropped back to 3-under after a late bogey down the stretch, which has him in a tie with Matthieu Pavon in fourth. Tony Finau and Tyrrell Hatton are alone in sixth at 2-under. Brooks Koepka, who finished at even par, left the course without speaking to the media on Thursday — and his explanation was incredible.
Woods, on the other hand, struggled. After a birdie to open his day, he made five birdies in seven holes around the turn before finishing with a 4-over 74. He’ll need a big outing on Friday in order to make the cut, something he failed to do last month at the PGA Championship.
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Scheffler’s struggles and yet …
Scottie Scheffler is 1-over, still very much in contention. It feels like he should be 10 back.
Here are a few stats:
– Fairways hit: 5/12 (146th)
– Putts: 24 through 12 holes (98th)
– Greens in regulation: 9 of 14 (36th)
We could get into the strokes gained stats, but you get the point.
He’s spraying the ball everywhere, isn’t making any putts … and yet he’s just 1-over par, only six back of clubhouse leader Patrick Cantlay.
This very much feels like a team going 3-for-20 from 3-point land and still winning.
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