OAKMONT, Pennsylvania :J.J. Spaun grabbed the first-round clubhouse lead at the U.S. Open on Thursday at Oakmont Country Club where Masters champion Rory McIlroy was eight shots back and tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler had just teed off.
Much of the talk this week has been how the notoriously challenging course would keep scores in check and, while the layout did bare its teeth, Spaun somehow managed to produce only the eighth bogey-free round in a U.S. Open at Oakmont.
Spaun, who lost to McIlroy in a playoff at The Players Championship in March, fired a four-under-par 66 in stifling conditions that marked his lowest round in a major.
Kim Si-woo, whose birdie attempt at his final hole just missed the cup, was in the clubhouse two shots off the pace while Ben Griffin was a further shot adrift after mixing three birdies with two bogeys.
Spaun, who started on the back nine, made his move early and reached the turn with four birdies on his card to become the first player ever to play his first nine holes in the opening round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont at 31 strokes or fewer.
From there, Spaun, whose best leaderboard rank after a major championship round is a share of 16th (2022 Masters) drained a number of big putts while stringing together nine consecutive pars to reach the clubhouse in control.
Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau, one of 14 LIV Golf players in the field this week and looking to become the first repeat U.S. Open winner since Brooks Koepka in 2018, spent too much time in Oakmont’s penal rough and opened with a 73.
McIlroy, still looking to regain the form that helped him complete the career Grand Slam in April, started from the 10th hole and made two early birdies and reached the turn two shots back of Spaun before a wayward second nine.
World number two McIlroy made four bogeys over a seven-hole stretch out of the turn followed by a double-bogey at the par-three eighth where he left his tee shot in the thick rough and failed to get out on his first attempt. He signed for a 74.
Red-hot world number one Scheffler, who counts the PGA Championship among his three wins in his last four starts, went out with the late starters alongside twice major winner Collin Morikawa and world number 14 Viktor Hovland.
