– Danny Willett makes his debut in the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
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That his anxious three-putt on the 18th green during the final round of the 2015 U.S. Open does not define him.
This year alone, the 24-year-old Miller has tried to qualify for nine pro tournaments – six on the PGA Tour and three on the Web.com – making it through once and failing to make the cut at the one Web.com event he got into.
Johnson, the heartbreak story from Chambers Bay when he lost the U.S. Open with a three-putt from 12 feet on the final hole, played bogey-free on an Oakmont course still soft from almost 3 inches of rain. Even though it may play longer, I think it will play much easier if it rains.
He hasn’t been seen in competitive golf since.
Having declared himself ready to return after a back injury, which kept him out of the BMW PGA Championship and Memorial Tournament. Four of them are in the World Golf Hall of Fame, and Woods will join them.
This week, there has been none of that.
Overnight rains softened the brutal Oakmont Country Club course, allowing early players to take advantage on either side of the one hour and 19 minute delay. He is the reigning PGA Championship victor, captured the WGC-Dell Match Play Championships and held off the chasers at The Players Championship.
Finishing second in the Masters in April extended Westwood’s unwanted record of most top-three finishes in a major without winning one to nine, the former world number one adding: “I think all the guys here, they get fired up for the majors”.
“So it is what it is”.
Ireland’s Shane Lowry was just a shot behind Westwood after completing a 68 with birdies on the 14th and 17th, the 29-year-old continuing his trend of shooting low scores in the first round. Lush and wet, Oakmont yielded 11 rounds in the 60s.
“There was a lot of golf earlier in the year, and I kind of felt the effects of that, and I’ve been really careful since the Masters time to make sure that I’m fresher for this event”, the one-time major victor said.
So who knows? For whatever it means, he missed the cut the last time the national championship was played here.
Rory McIlroy’s quest for a second U.S. Open title is off to a bumpy start.
Scott offered even better advice. In fact, he has tweaked his golf swing to try to hit the ball straighter off the tee.
Amateur Scottie Scheffler quickly hit his last putt Thursday as the horn sounded to end play on a stormy day at the U.S. Open. “To win the ultimate one – the highest honor in the USGA – has been fantastic”.
That one is a little more important: the U.S. Open.
“They pride themselves on being the hardest golf course in the US”, McIlroy said of Oakmont and its members.
“You can’t say ball-striker”. Putting has been an issue in 2016. “A lot of characteristics of a typical, tough and hard U.S. Open”.
“It was good, one of the best starts I’ve ever had”, Westwood said.
“I played in a couple of Palmer Cups and every time I sign my name for fans, I know to make it legible”, American Thomas, 23, told Reuters, referring to the annual team competition between golfers from USA colleges and European universities.
At Oakmont Country Club, Oakmont, Pa.
Defending champion: Jordan Spieth, United States. Live golf scores, leaderboards and results. If he wins, he’d be the oldest champion in tournament history.
Just don’t look for Phil Mickelson to take anything but an iron off the tee at 313-yard 17th hole.
CONTENDER – Patrick Reed, United States: Doesn’t he remind you of another swashbuckler who hailed from these parts?
DARK HORSE – Jim Furyk, United States: He normally wouldn’t be listed here, but he missed the first four months of this season with a wrist injury (and three months after surgery).
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Ernie Els, who didn’t get to hit a shot on Thursday, was 2-under through eight holes and just two off the lead set by Andrew Landry.
