Spieth, who won last year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay by one stroke, said that approach shots had become a very different proposition at Oakmont with the firm conditions from earlier in the week having been softened by rain.
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Defending champion Jordan Spieth and world No. 3 Rory McIlroy will be hoping to turn things around when they return to finish their first rounds on Friday. “I’m just playing golf”.
Through 15 holes, he was at 3 under par, just a shot off the lead of Andrew Landry. After parring the first nine holes, she holed out from 71 yards with a lob wedge for eagle on the par-5 first and birdied Nos.
He had played 13 holes, holing out for birdie from a bunker at the second hole, and overcoming three bogeys in a four-hole stretch with two other birdies.
The hole he dug himself at Oakmont kept getting deeper.
Andrew Landry needed only one shot Friday morning to set an Oakmont record at the U.S Open.
Nearly four hours of scheduled play were wiped out by thunderstorms and heavy rain at Oakmont Country Club before the opening round was eventually suspended for the day, with just nine players having completed the full 18 holes. Scheffler, who just finished his sophomore year at Texas, was among nine players who finished Thursday.
McIlroy, who claimed his first major title with a stunning eight-shot victory in the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional, said the multiple weather delays on Thursday due to thunderstorms had been a test of patience and time management.
Miguel Tabuena must have fretted at the locker room as he awaited his moment to tee off at the US Open Thursday.
American Dustin Johnson and England’s former world number one Lee Westwood, each seeking a first major title, carded 67s while Spaniard Sergio Garcia, victor of the AT&T Byron Nelson in his most recent start, was among a group of three players on 68.
He holds the program’s all-time record for top 10 finishes in a career with 25 and he captured the 2009 Reunion Intercollegiate Championship with rounds of 72-72-71 – 215 (-1) to finish as the only player under par.
Masters champion Danny Willett, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler could not get off the course soon enough. Johnson, the heartbreak runner-up previous year at Chambers Bay, didn’t start his round until Friday. I hit the ball well, a lot of fairways, a lot of greens. I felt OK. I kind of normally don’t need to warm up that much, which is good for me, but I imagine some of the older guys might have been feeling it. So, was his sleep filled with visions of sinking the putt and leading the U.S. Open?
McIlroy, the world’s third-ranked player, posted a score of 7-over 77 during his opening round at Oakmont.
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McIlroy and company will have a chance to reset for the rest of the day on Friday, as a backlog at soggy Oakmont means they likely won’t hit the course again until Saturday. “I’ll be able to do fine”, Landry said. Plans changed, though, and Fitzpatrick turned professional after he tied for 48th in the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst.
