Andrew Landry, the No. 624th-ranked player in the world, took the opening-round lead with a 66, the lowest first-round score in the nine U.S. Opens held at Oakmont that he actually concluded on Friday morning.
Advertisement
“If so and I have an opportunity, you just never know on this golf course”. As tough as this start has been, the answer is likely going to include some borderline reckless aggression.
The surprise was Landry, a 28-year-old who had to go through 18 holes of local qualifying and 36 holes of sectional qualifying to get into his first U.S. Open.
This year has been nothing short of impressive. Mickelson sits at seven-over after carding a three-over 73 in his second round and will need a dozen golfers to drop to seven-over to play the weekend.
Landry was standing over a 10-foot birdie putt at his final hole, the ninth, when play was halted for the day on Thursday. The previous record was 67 by Ben Hogan in the 1953 U.S. Open and Tom Watson in the 1978 PGA Championship.
The last time a player won a major with an opening round 76 or higher came when Jack Fleck won the 1955 US Open.
Though there were some scores to be had Saturday morning – Louis Oosthuzen shot 65 and Bourdy had 64 in his sights – the greens are starting to harden up under a relentless sun that’s pushing temperatures to the mid 80s. Mickelson didn’t hit a shot Thursday because of the three rain delays, meaning he had to play 34 holes Friday.
Defending champion Spieth opened with a bogey but got that back at he next hole to stay at two over. And amidst the rush of stars, it was Andrew Laundry who stole the limelight, finishing at four under par with Dustin Johnson.
But defying gravity – or just a gift from the golfing gods – Johnson’s second shot to the par 4 had enough backspin to stop it on a downhill lie, 10 feet from the cup. More importantly, he had to be on a high after chopping his way out of the deep rough and then holing a 70-footer for par on the final hole. “I did a bit today”, Spieth said.
Jordan Spieth is on a roll at the U.S. Open early in the third round.
Dustin Johnson has better thoughts as he heads out again after shooting a 67 to tie Lee Westwood for second after one round.
Day, Mickelson and the others faced as many as 36 holes, a long walk on soggy ground, though in favorable conditions for a U.S. Open. The best of the trio was an 8-iron to 4 feet on the 183-yard, par-3 13th.
He played his first nine holes in three under par and said on Sky Sports: “I was aggressive and it paid off. I hit the driver really well, which opened up the greens and I had lots of birdie chances”.
Far more impressive was his accuracy. For the round, McIlroy hit only five of 14 fairways and eight of 18 greens.
Whether McIlroy makes history or crashes and burns, one thing is for sure: this is going to be some must-watch golf over the next two days.
“I think, if I can get back to even par, that I may have a good chance at giving myself a shot at winning”, Day said.
And Rory McIlroy did what Rory McIlroy has tended to do in majors, muck up his first round (7-over 77), then start to rally.
On the course, other stars were struggling.
Earlier in the day, world number one Jason Day completed a 69 to ensure he would make the cut.
Advertisement
Do the math, Phil Mickelson advised.
