“The first time you play a golf course like this it’s always more hard”, he added.
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Rory McIlroy had a big, fat 77 in his opening round, while Rickie Fowler shot 76.
Andrew Landry reacts after his birdie putt on the ninth hole during the rain delayed first round of the U.S. Open golf championship at Oakmont Country Club on Friday, June 17, 2016, in Oakmont, Pa.
“I hit it close, gave myself lots of chances”, said Westwood, who needed just 26 putts on Oakmont’s treacherous greens. That matches the number of first-round scores in the 60s from the previous four U.S. Opens combined at Oakmont.
“It was tough starting and stopping and conditions changing from when we started to when we finished, but it is what it is”, Spieth said. In 2006, the last time the U.S. Open was at Oakmont, Angel Cabrera won the tournament at 5 over.
With the rain-delayed first round still underway, Oakmont was playing to an average score of 74.4 despite greens that weren’t almost as treacherous as they were before the storms hit.
Defending champion Jordan Spieth wasn’t too troubled by making only one birdie in his round of 72, especially compared with others.
Day, Johnson and their half of the field headed out for the second round Friday afternoon, meaning most would be playing 36 holes in one day. He was the 54-hole leader at the Masters in 2010 before being eclipsed by Phil Mickelson. The 2011 U.S. Open champion’s tour of Oakmont included eight bogeys, including five over his final seven holes.
World No.1 Jason Day failed to hit a ball in anger as the opening round of the US Open at Oakmont Country Club was marred by thunderstorms.
Still, McIlroy said that with the rest of the day Friday at his disposal as he is not due back out for his second round until Saturday morning, there was still time for him to put things right and make it through to the weekend.
Danny Willett, who surged past Spieth at the Masters in April to capture his first major, hit only 8 of 14 fairways and 12 of 18 greens while shooting 5-over 75.
“It was nice to feel those emotions again”, he said.
Some of the game’s biggest stars struggled during the first round of the U.S. Open. The 28-year-old Texan says he plans to nap and do some laundry while 78 players start their first rounds after they were delayed by rain on Thursday.
However, the four-time major victor missed the fairway on each of the first three holes, despite taking an iron off the tee, and bogeyed the second and third after being forced to play out sideways from deep fairway bunkers.
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Play is set to resume at 7:30 a.m. Friday, but officials are assessing what to do about visitors.
