Albatross for Patrick Reed on 4! A fairway wood creamed from the middle of the track into the heart of the green. One soft bounce that rolls gently from right to left and in! He’s not immediately aware of what he’s done, shrugging his shoulders and asking folks up ahead for confirmation. When he gets it, a broad smile of supreme satisfaction! And why not? That’s only the fourth double-eagle, as the Americans call it, in the US Open record books, following those made by TC Chen at Oakland Hills in 1985, Shaun Micheel at Pebble Beach in 2010, and Nick Watney in 2012. He’s making a habit of this sort of thing, too, having holed out from distance for eagle on 17 on Masters Sunday back in April. Apologies for the long radio silence: a bug in our publishing system has decided to kick me out of the blogging tools and refuses to let me post anything. A bright future in editorial awaits the bug, some would doubtless argue. Anyway, while the tech bods look at the problem, I’m emailing this across to a colleague who is still able to post. So what have we missed? Eagle for the two-time winner Brooks Koepka at 4! A 40-foot rake across the green moves him to -2. Scottie Scheffler birdies 2, then hands the shot back on the very next hole. He did well to limit the damage on 3 to bogey, having found a fairway bunker, sent his next through the green, then underhit a wedge that performed a u-turn and nestled on the fringe. Two putts from there, no mean feat, salvaged the situation somewhat. The world number one is level par. Thriston Lawrence – who you’ll remember leading the Open at one point on Sunday afternoon last year – birdies 17 and makes it back to the hutch with a three-under 67. Ryan Fox, who hit one of the shots of the season last week to win the Canadian Open, a carpe-diem 3-wood to seven feet to beat Sam Burns on the fourth hole of a play-off, is at it again. This time he rakes home a 27-footer on 2 to move into red figures. More updates soon! Maybe! Hopefully! Dustin Johnson, the 2016 US Open champion here at Oakmont, starts par-bogey. Talking of DJs, I’m about to be one for a while so will hand you back to Scott for a good chunk of time while I dig out my Dave Pike Set ‘Mathar’ 7”. Four clubhouse scores in the 60s now after excellent efforts from Si Woo Kim, Ben Griffin and Thomas Detry following Spaun’s 66. J.T. Poston joins the 1-unders with a chip-in birdie at his opening hole. -4: Spaun (F) -2: S Kim (F), Lawrence (16) -1: B Griffin (F), Detry (F), van Rooyen (2*), Bezuidenhout (2*), Burns (2), Hatton (1*), Poston (1*). Datagolf have a live model showing the chances of each player making the cut. The good news for Rory McIlroy is that his chances of playing on the weekend are currently 72.7%. Lowry is at 9% and Rose 14%. A textbook opening par for Scheffler. Drive into the fairway, iron to 17 feet and two putts for an opening four. Morikawa also makes par but Hovland takes three swishes with the putter from 35 feet and walks off with a clumsy bogey. Mark Schmidt emails: “I’m in the US watching the Peacock ‘Featured Group’ of McIlroy, Rose, and Lowry. Lowry is doing a bit of effing and jeffing just now out there.” And it’s pretty easy to see why, Mark, after a 9-over 79. The Irishman was runner-up at Oakmont in 2016. Now, he’ll have it all on to make the cut. He only broke par on one hole today and that was due to holing out from the fairway at 3. There’s always Royal Portrush next month for Shane. As for Justin Rose, the other member of the three-ball featuring McIlroy and Lowry, the 2013 US Open winner also struggled badly, shooting a 77 comprising 11 pars, seven bogeys and no swearing. And as McIlroy and DeChambeau come to terms with disappointing days, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler strides onto the 1st tee. Is it his week? Can the tournament favourite make it back-to-back majors after his victory in last month’s PGA Championship? Scheffler is out with Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa. It’s a narrow fairway but all three find the short grass thanks to impressive drives. After turning in even par, Bryson DeChambeau won’t be happy with his 3-over 73. Too much loose stuff from the defending champ and he’s currently down in tied 39th. When he won his two US Opens, Bryson opened with a round in the 60s both times. He was 14th after day one (69) at Winged Foot in 2020 while a 67 left him fourth after 18 holes at Pinehurst No.2 last year. The 73 is one better than Rory McIlroy, who drops six shots coming home for a 74. A round of two halves, Rory’s second nine bound to fuel the doubts that he had pre-tournament after that shocking missed cut in Canada when he beat just four players in the field after shooting 9-over. In contrast to McIlroy, Xander Schauffele has turned a poor day into a pretty acceptable one. The Open champion twice had to scribble ‘6’ on his scorecard (double bogey at 7, bogey at 12) and another dropped shot at 13 left him at +4 for the day. But quitting is one thing he never does. “I play to the whistle. Always,” said Schauffele when asked last week about his superb US Open record. And he’s shown that today with a birdie-birdie finish. Don’t rule him out securing a remarkable eighth top 10 in his nine US Opens (the other was 14th!). This is all going wrong for Rory McIlroy. Par 3s measuring 276 yards aren’t supposed to be easy but making a 5 on one (the 8th) is a bit of a nightmare given what’s just gone. McIlroy played his opening nine in 2-under; on his second nine he’s 5-over. His score of +4 overall now leaves him in a tie for 44th when it seemed he’d been in the top 10 for most of the day. A crumb of comfort: he’s found the fairway with his final drive of the day. Si-Woo Kim moves to within a shot of the lead by holing a putt from 18 feet at 7, his 16th. The detail is that he putted through the apron to make it so the degree of difficulty was higher than on first glance! That’s a second straight birdie for the Korean, who despite his win in the 2017 Players Championship, only secured his first top 10 in a major when eighth in last month’s PGA Championship. -4: Spaun (F) -3: S Kim (16*) -2: B Griffin (17*), Detry (15), Lawrence (13) -1: R MacIntyre (16) An e-mail. John Mc Enerney writes: “Hi David, just thinking if Oakmont was a movie villain it would be Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men! Pure evil!” Good shout! A new name appears under par and it’s good news if you’re a fan of left-handed Scottish golfers. Robert MacIntyre, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour last season, has birdied 12 and 15 to leap up to sixth place on his own. The details of his gain at 15 need fleshing out a little as the birdie came via a 39-foot putt. He’s also found the green at the par-3 16th. Rory’s putter is deserting him now and that means par saves are now turning into bogeys. Another shot goes at 7 as he fails to hole from six feet. And that after a 323-yard drive into the fairway. McIlroy’s third dropped shot in the last four holes and fourth blemish of this second nine takes him back to +2. That’s currently tied 14th so let’s not get too down on him. Stop what you’re doing, put your phones/cups of tea down and break out in a round of applause for J.J. Spaun. The 34-year-old from Los Angeles has just shot 66 around the fiendishly difficult Oakmont Country Club. His 4-under lap is currently good enough for a two-shot lead. Although he was runner-up in this year’s Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass, showing his appetite for tough courses, Wiki readers will notice the lack of top 10 yellow on Spaun’s majors record. His best at this level is tied 23rd in the 2022 Masters while his only other US Open start resulted in a missed cut at Torrey Pines in 2021. To be fair, he has made the weekend in both majors this year: 50th at Augusta and 37th at the PGA Championship. But today’s round is taking it to a new level. It would be a huge surprise if he’s not leading at the end of play. I mean, we know it’s tough. But let’s go for some historical context. Conclusion: it’s bloody, ruddy difficult. We’re down to five players under par. Let’s see who they are via this leaderboard below. -4: Spaun (17*) -2: S Kim (15*), Detry (14) -1: B Griffin (16*), Lawrence (11) Bryson DeChambeau is a collage of hunched shoulders and mutters as he makes his third bogey in five holes with a dropped shot at 16. A poor tee-shot did part of the damage, a three-putt the rest of it. The defending US Open champion is leaking oil and now lies seven off the pace. Tough gig this Oakmont. Leader J.J. Spaun simply refuses to put a bogey on his card. His latest test of resolve comes at that crazy-long par-3 8th where he has just over eight feet for par. No bother. In it goes. Par at the 463-yard 9th – the hardest hole on the course let it be known – and he’ll be signing for a rather splendid 4-under 66. McIlroy makes par at 5 and then, unsettled and twitchy over what club to pull at the 204-yard par-3 6th, finds a greenside bunker left. Indecision: the bane of all golfers, even Grand Slam winners. Rory splashes out to just over five feet but can’t make the putt, smashing it through the break. That’s three shots gone in six holes on his second nine. And if you’re wondering if he can get one or two back over his final three holes, erm, this is what he faces between now and the clubhouse. 7th – 487-yard par 4 8th – 276-yard par 3 (vidiprinter: three) 9th – 463-yard par 4 McIlroy is currently +1 and tied for 12th. A quick mention of some notable afternoon tee-times. These are all BST. US unless stated. Starting at hole 1 18.03 Brooks Koepka, Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Justin Thomas 18.25 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler Starting at hole 10 18.14 Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth 18.25 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sepp Straka (Aut) A quick delve into McIlroy’s numbers behind his basic scorecard tally of even par after 13. He ranks 9th for Strokes Gained: Putting so far but is actually losing strokes to the field on Approach. He’s 10th for Off The Tee so the driver is behaving after he switched back to his trusty model after his tinkering in Canada. Leader J.J. Spaun ranks 1st for SG: Putting which kind of makes sense. Gary Woodland’s strong start takes a double hit after bogeys at 12 and 13. It drops the 2019 US Open winner back to -1 and three adrift of rock-solid J.J. Spaun. The two unrelated Griffins remain side by side in fourth. -4: Spaun (15*) -2: S Kim (12*), Detry (11) -1: Scott (14*), G Woodland (13), B Griffin (13*), L Griffin (11) Amateur Noah Kent holes a Woganesque putt at the 9th. It’s measured at a whopping 95 feet. Some effort that. It’s a rare good moment though as he’s played the front nine in +5. Jackson Koivun leads the race for Low Amateur right now at +1. The 20-year-old from North Carolina was actually -1 after his opening nine but has just made double. Note the name though as the Low Amateur here at Oakmont in 2016 was a certain Jon Rahm (T23). Rory McIlroy! Staring at a seven, or even an eight on a course where three-putts are commonplace, McIlroy drains his 30-foot putt at the par-5 4th to escape with a bogey. He drops back to even par but that’s still inside the top 10. The less good news is that he’s started his second nine with two bogeys and two pars so just needs to gather himself to protect what remains a strong start. Talking of gutsy putts, J.J. Spaun holes from 16 feet for par at the 204-yard 6th after finding another bunker. His lead is now two over Gary Woodland, Si Woo Kim and Thomas Detry. Jordan Smith is one of the DP World Tour’s best drivers of a golf ball and he’s going nicely here in tied 10th. The Englishman has a bit of US Open history having finished 20th at LA Country Club in 2023 and he’s just four holes from the clubhouse after an excellent morning’s work featuring two birdies, two bogeys and 10 pars. Oh dear, Rory. Is the Masters champ unravelling at the 621-yard par-5 4th? Anyone without TV pictures and following on the official leaderboard will have noted the dreaded use of “native area” to describe the destination of his drive. He’s then needed three more hacks to get it back to the fairway. All hands on hip stuff as he takes in what’s just happened. He plays his fifth with a 6-iron from 203 yards and it slaps down safely on the green. A two-putt from 30 feet for a double-bogey 7 looks the most likely outcome now. Tommy Fleetwood started bogey-bogey today but he’s holding firm. The Englishman, a US Open runner-up at Shinnecock in 2018 after a stupendous closing 63, has played his next 11 holes in even par after a birdie at 5 and a dropped shot at 9. At +2, he has a six-time US Open runner-up for company – Phil Mickelson (11 holes). One shot worse at +3 is Open champion Xander Schauffele (12). Bryson DeChambeau is staring at a big number on the 618-yard par-5 12th. A drive of 366 yards into the intermediate doesn’t hint at anything too bad but he’s then hacking around in rough up by the green and still hasn’t reached the putting surface after five shots. The American isn’t a two-time US Open champion for nothing thought and, from the fringe, he sinks a 25-footer for bogey. Phew! He picks the ball from the hole and swishes a fist in defiance. It’s back to +1 for the tournament but that could have been really ugly. Fun fact: I’m not sure if he’s mentioned it in commentary yet or is being modest but the surprise leader after 18 holes in the 2007 US Open at Oakmont – the one won by Angel Cabrera with +5 – was none other than Sky commentator Nick Dougherty. His 2-under 68 put him one clear of Cabrera while double Masters winners Jose Maria Olazabal and Bubba Watson were tied third after even-par 70s. A smile, but a kind of weary one, as Shane Lowry holes from the fairway at 3 for eagle! That’s a nice way to wipe out the double bogey from the previous hole although at +4 he’ll still need a lot more magic to save this round and stop slipping too far back. At the top, our leader J.J. Spaun keeps his card clean with a sturdy par save at the 621-yard par-5 4th, his 13th. He’s playing from sand for his fourth but splashes out to around eight feet and curls in the par putt to stay one clear at -4. While we’re focusing on the good stuff at the top, there are plenty of big names currently losing the battle with Oakmont. Look away now if you’re cheering any of these on: +6 Shane Lowry (11*) +5 Patrick Cantlay (10*) +4 Justin Rose (11*), Keegan Bradley (11) A total of four US Open champions are inside the top 11. That’ll be Gary Woodland (-3), Rory McIlroy (-1), Bryson DeChambeau (Evs) and Wyndham Clark (Evs). Rory’s bid to join the mini-leaderboard below fails as his putt for birdie at 2 pulls up just short. He lets out a sigh followed by a rude word. -4: Spaun (12*) -3: Woodland (10), Detry (9) -2: Åberg (12*), S Kim (10*), Lawrence (6) The good news for McIlroy is that the 2nd is a short par 4 so he only has to chunk one out from the juicy stuff. He judges it very well, the ball releasing forwards nicely from its chop and pulling up about 16 feet away. Wary of the sloped green, McIlroy does a little dad jog up up the fairway to mark his ball before it tumbles back towards him. Birdie chance coming up. Hmmm. Rory is in the thick stuff after a pulled drive at 2. “It’s alright there, isn’t it,” he says to caddie Harry Diamond although our TV pictures show his ball fully disappearing into the grass. Camera angles and all that. Perhaps he knows something we don’t. After his miserable halfway exit and mini-existential crisis in Canada when he revealed feelings of ‘now what?’ after completing the Grand Slam with that thrilling Masters win, McIlroy was a popular bet to miss the cut. But we underestimate him at our peril and here’s an interesting tweet about his ability to bounce back from adversity. Rory makes his first bogey of the day. Not a great way to start his second nine and it came after pumping a 378-yard drive down the admittedly sloping fairway at the 484-yard 1st. A three-putt from 38-feet causes the first blemish on his card and drops him three back from leader J.J. Spaun. Pleasing to see a leaderboard showing Griffin and Griffin next to each other at -1. They’re not related. Ben, 29, is one of golf’s in-form players after a win (Charles Schwab Challenge) and a second (Memorial) in his last two starts. Lanto, 36, was brought up by hippy parents and came through qualifying. Thanks Scott. Funnily enough, I was just about to open with McIlroy having a spring in his step after hitting that tee shot. The springy motion must have been pretty prominant I guess. It’s certainly been an excellent first nine for the 2011 US Open champion: 2-under for that stretch is basically three-and-a-half shots better than the field average. Par for Rory McIlroy on the 18th, and he turns in 33 strokes. A wee bounce in his step as he walks off towards the 1st. Then he lashes the big stick down the middle of the narrow fairway. A big improvement in his game since last week, when he missed the cut in Canada. … and with that, I’ll hand you over to David Tindall. Enjoy, enjoy. See you later on! Bob MacIntyre nearly follows his birdie at 7 with another at the long, long, long par-three 8th. He batters his tee shot from 274 yards to 23 feet, then shaves the cup with his putt. There have been no birdies on this hole so far today, an unsurprising fact considering its distance. And this is with the tee up! It’ll most likely play longer than 300 yards on Sunday, if only to beat the US Open record for longest par-three in history, set on this same hole in 2007. Ludvig Åberg starts to walk in a 20-foot par putt on 1 … only for it to lip out. No idea how that didn’t drop. Åberg adjusts his stride. Dejected now. He’s had no luck at all with the flat stick, that’s his third putt that’s somehow stayed up by defying all known conditions of gravity. He slips back to -1. Meanwhile Bryson DeChambeau powers through the line of a short par putt on 9 and that’s a clumsy bogey. He storms off, level par again. Robert MacIntyre drains a 30-footer across 7 and Oban’s finest moves back to level par. It’s about time Scotland had another major champion; Paul Lawrie’s Open victory is an awfully long time ago. C’mon Bob, let’s party like it’s 1999. Rory McIlroy makes his putt on 17. That’s a fine par save after his travails down the right of the hole. This is going well for the Masters champion, who is blemish-free so far. -4: Spaun (10*) -3: Woodland (7) -2: Åberg (9*), Scott (9*), McIlroy (8*), Clark (7), S Kim (7*), Detry (6), Nørgaard (5*) Trouble for Rory McIlroy at the drivable par-four 17th. His tee shot disappears into the long stuff down the right, and in attempting to land his wedge a couple of steps past the bunker and onto the fringe, only finds sand. He splashes out to seven feet, but it’s a testing par putt coming up. In the meantime, his playing partner Shane Lowry’s mood worsens further, then improves a tad, as he fluffs a chip, then clips his second attempt 13 feet past the flag and onto the fringe. Naturally, he chips in from there. No need for the putter. He remains +3. Xander Schauffele stops the rot on the monster 276-yard par-three 8th. He misses the green by miles to the left, but does well to wedge to 15 feet, and rattles in the par saver. Not quite a must-make, but at +2 he won’t want to be ceding any more ground. Especially when he’s watching his playing partner Bryson DeChambeau getting stuck in. Par for the defending champ at 8, but that followed a fine birdie at 7, reward for arrowing his second from 170 yards to six feet. He’s -1. Ludvig Åberg sends his approach into 18 pin high, and rolls in his birdie putt from six feet. He’s played the back nine in 33 strokes, and it could have been even better: he’s had a couple of putts stopping cussedly on the lip. On another day, they’d have dropped. So close to something sensational, the small margins. He’s smiling anyway. As is his playing partner Adam Scott, who also birdies the hole to turn in 33. They’re both -2. Shane Lowry came second here in 2016. He doesn’t look like repeating that, never mind going one better, this week. He dumps his tee shot at 16 into a greenside bunker, and doesn’t get anywhere near with his bash out. Three putts later, that’s a double, and he’s +3, walking around with a dark cloud over his irritated noggin. A double out of nowhere for Xander Schauffele, too, always out of position on 7 after finding a fairway bunker from the tee. The reigning Open champion is +2, a fast start of 4-4-4-4 that saw him into red figures after four holes going south at warp speed. Niklas Nørgaard made his major-championship debut in last month’s PGA Championship at the age of 33. Better late than never, and though he missed the cut at Quail Hollow, he’s making his presence known here on his second major appearance. He follows birdie at 11 by sending his tee shot at the par-three 13th to 15 feet and walking in the putt. He’s -2. Meanwhile par for JJ Spaun on 18 and he’s played the back nine in 31 strokes. He could sell that for cash money on Sunday. Though if he maintains this hot vein of form – and he’s been impressive all year – he’ll be needing it for himself. Rory McIlroy strains every sinew to lash his second at 15 out of the filth. He muscles his ball onto the front of the green, pretty much the best he could do. Two putts from distance later, he’s bouncing off to the next tee having made a brilliant par save. Also bouncing: Gary Woodland, who sends his approach at 5 from 150 yards to three feet and makes the birdie putt. Bouncing and smiling. The 2019 champ is enjoying himself. There are only eight players under par right now, and he’s very much one of them. -4: Spaun (8*) -3: Woodland (5) -2: McIlroy (6*), Clark (5), S Kim (5*) -1: Åberg (7*), Detry (3), Norgaard (3*) Another birdie for JJ Spaun! This one comes at the drivable par-four 17th, a hole that should provide plenty of entertainment come Sunday afternoon. He’s now two clear at -4. Meanwhile a staunch par for Bryson on 6, his tee shot disappearing into thick greenside rough. Short-sided, he does exceptionally well to punch out to six feet and tidy up. He remains level par. Rory McIlroy isn’t the only former champion who’s started well this morning. The 2011 winner is joined at -2 alongside 2023 victor Wyndham Clark, who has birdied 3 and 4, and 2019’s Gary Woodland, who has just rolled in a 25-footer on 4 for his second birdie of the day, after making his first at 2. Meanwhile the current champ Bryson DeChambeau takes advantage of a lucky right-angled bounce out of greenside rough at 5 by making the birdie chance he’s been gifted. He’s back to level par after his aforementioned opening bogey. Rory McIlroy unsheathes the driver again. But this one’s not as good as the sensational swish of 12. It’s carved out to the right of the long par-four 15th, and nearly finds a penalty area in the middle of the thick rough. The ball stops just in time, but nevertheless disappears into grass so high that, to quote Sky’s ever-entertaining Nick Dougherty, “you could lose a dog in it”. He’s still got 182 yards to go, as well. Good luck with that, Rory. JJ Spaun creams one of the shots of the day into the 222-yard par-three 16th. A dart to five feet. In goes the birdie putt, and the 34-year-old Californian, who came so close at Sawgrass back in March, has the lead all to himself. -3: Spaun (7*) -2: McIlroy (4*), Woodland (4), S Kim (4*) Bryson DeChambeau doesn’t fancy visiting the Church Pew bunker down the left of 4, so ends up sending his tee shot into sand over on the other side of the fairway. He lays up with his second, and lands on the gallery crossing. He opts to take relief. His caddie picks up the ball without marking it, then DeChambeau places instead of dropping. The referee comes across to tell him to sort it out. No penalty, though he’s dropped his ball very close to the walkway, from which he has to take full relief. If his foot’s on the line, that’s not full relief, and he might be in retrospective bother. It’s real close, and hard to be sure from the TV pictures. But hopefully all’s well, and as the match official doesn’t seem unduly worried, let’s assume there’s nothing more to see here unless we later find out otherwise. But that was a strange – and totally unnecessary – brouhaha. He sends his third into the heart of the green and walks off with par. Rory McIlroy’s tee shot into the 184-yard par-three 13th lands pin high. His 20-foot birdie putt shaves the cup but doesn’t drop. He remains at -2, as does JJ Spaun, who races a chip seven feet past the flag on 14 but nails the putt coming back. Rory McIlroy’s eagle putt on 12 has a 16 percent make percentage. He reads the right-to-left line correctly, but gives it an over-excitable clack. He’s now six feet past, and this one’s downhill. He cocks his head back in despair, knowing he’s given himself an unnecessarily difficult test to make the birdie his first two shots deserve. So well done, as he tickles the left-to-right slider into the cup. He hits the lead, while his pal and playing partner Shane Lowry ends up with bogey. -2: Spaun (5*), McIlroy (3*) -1: Cole (6*), T Kim (5*), Åberg (4*), Clark (3), Woodland (3), S Kim (2*), Davis (2), Norgaard (2*) That was McIlroy’s longest drive this season. It landed in the perfect spot, on the downslope, kicking right into the centre of the fairway and rolling on. He follows it up with a 6-iron from 226 yards that pitches a few feet in front of the flag and slowly rolls towards the cup. For a moment, a highly decent eagle chance looks on, but the ball keeps going on the glassy green, and ends up 52 feet past the hole. That’s so unjust. But then everyone knows what they’re getting at Oakmont, and two uphill putts from the back of the green for birdie isn’t the worst position to be in. Compare and contrast to Shane Lowry, hitting his third out of a bunker. He doesn’t reach the green and is in a spot of bother now. He effs and jeffs at a volume which elicits a fulsome apology from Nick Dougherty on Sky Sports. It is over seven hours before the watershed after all. Rory McIlroy is having problems with his driver at the moment. It says here. He opens his shoulders on the 12th tee box and rips a monster down the left-hand side of the fairway. It lands on the downslope and keeps going, nearly reaching a crossing point for the gallery, presumably positioned because the USGA consider it out of reach from the tee. Well, yes, but only just. That’s gone 392 yards. May we all suffer such problems with the driver. JJ Spaun can’t make his birdie putt on 13. But he’s now sole leader of the US Open, because Ludvig Åberg makes a mess of the par-five 12th, going for the pin with his third and finding sand, then only splashing out into the rough. After bundling his chip eight feet past the hole, he does extremely well to make the putt coming back and limit the damage to bogey. Meanwhile Adam Scott bounces back from an opening bogey at 10 with birdies at 11 and 12, while Eric Cole does the same with birdies at 12 and 14. All change at the top! -2: Spaun (4*) -1: Cole (5*), Åberg (3*), Scott (3*), McIlroy (2*), S Kim (2*) Justin Rose – the 2013 champion and runner-up in two of the last three majors – nearly drains a long left-to-right slider at 11. He’s given Rory McIlroy a read, and the Masters champ walks in his effort to move into red figures. Meanwhile this year’s Players runner-up JJ Spaun birdies the par-five 12th and sets up another chance for himself on the par-three 13th by easing his tee shot to ten feet, no mean feat given the pin’s tucked away in an awkward spot back left, surrounded by sand. -2: Spaun (3*), Åberg (2) -1: McIlroy (2), Fitzpatrick (1) The 2022 champion Matt Fitzpatrick drains a 30-foot right-to-left swinger across 1. He walked that in with confidence. Meanwhile another penalty drop for Tommy Fleetwood, his second in his first two holes, after driving into a native area down the left of 2. That’s a 5-5 start and he’s +2 already. Rory McIlroy, the latest member of the career-slam club, is out and about. He’s having trouble with the driver at the moment, but that’s not an issue when you take iron off the tee. He fires his opening shot down the middle of 10, then knocks his approach to 12 feet. Big chance for an opening birdie, but he gives the right-to-left slider too much on the high side. There goes that dream. Par, and it’s the same for his playing partners Justin Rose and Shane Lowry. A summit meeting of European royalty. Last year, Ludvig Åberg led going into the weekend at his first US Open. He ended up tied for 12th, a fine effort on debut. This year he’s leading after the first hour of action, having followed up birdie at 10 by wedging from 140 yards to three feet at 11 and tidying up for another. The very early leader Maxwell Moldovan meanwhile bogeys 2 but remains one of three players under par this morning. There are currently 32 players out on the course. -2: Åberg (2*) -1: Moldovan (2), Spaun (2*) The defending champion Bryson DeChambeau gets a lucky break with his opening tee shot. He sends it towards Fleetwood Country down the left, but his ball stops on a pathway trodden down by the paying punters. He sends his second onto the front of the green, but the camber takes the ball off to the right and nestles up against the fringe. He doesn’t make a good contact with his putt, which bobbles then races ten feet past the flag. He can’t make the one coming back – “Misread!” he yelps – and that’s a messy opening bogey for last year’s winner. Tommy Fleetwood came so close to this title in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills, his final round of 63 not quite enough to pip Brooks Koepka. That year’s runner-up hopes to go one better this time round, but he’s not off to the best start, sending his tee shot at 1 into a ditch down the left. He’s forced to take a penalty drop, and does well to eventually limit the damage to bogey by tickling in a 12-foot putt. He’s +1. While Alistair Docherty was faffing about, his playing partner Zac Blair made the first birdie of the week with a 30-foot rake across 10. But never mind that, because Maxwell Moldovan, playing in his fourth consecutive US Open, holes out from 189 yards (!) on 1 to make the first eagle of this 125th edition. It’s some shot as well, landing on the front of the green, appearing to slow towards a halt, only to somehow keep rolling, keep rolling, keep rolling and in. The greens are lightning, did anyone say? -2: Moldovan (1) -1: Blair (2*), Spaun (1*), Åberg (1*) Let’s start as we mean to go on … by acknowledging the first double bogey of the week. All hail Alistair Docherty, who might be the first but sure won’t be the last. The 31-year-old Korn Ferry Tour regular from Washington state requires two attempts to chip up onto the green from a short-sided position on 10, and he’s +2 in short order. Earlier this week, the DP World Tour socials collared a few pros and asked them what an 18-handicapper would shoot at Oakmont this week. The most generous estimate was 120; Bryson DeChambeau guessed 100, but that’s just on the front nine. Several of them were certain they’d have to walk in, having lost all of their balls. As for the pros? Take the last couple of US Opens to be held here. Angel Cabrera won in 2007 with a final total of +5. In 2016, Shane Lowry held a four-stroke lead going into the final round only to shoot 76 and let Dustin Johnson in. This place – the jungle rough, the upturned-saucer greens, the excitable needle on the stimpmeter – makes mincemeat of the best of them. The lowest winning total at a US Open here is -5, and it took Ben Hogan to manage that, for goodness sake. (To be fair, Johnny Miller and Ernie Els won with -5 as well, Miller shooting the first-ever 63 in a major while doing so, but let’s not cloud the issue.) So this should be fun. Yes it will. Here are the tee times (USA unless stated, all times BST, (a) denotes amateur). It’s on! Starting at hole 1 11.45 Trent Phillips, Kevin Velo, (a) Matt Vogt 11.56 Chandler Blanchet, Alvaro Ortiz (Mex), Doug Ghim 12.07 (a) Evan Beck, Justin B. Hicks, Maxwell Moldovan 12.18 Keegan Bradley, Harris English, Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 12.29 Jose Luis Ballester (Spa), Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele 12.40 Wyndham Clark, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Gary Woodland 12.51 Akshay Bhatia, Robert MacIntyre (Sco), Matt McCarty 13.02 Cameron Davis (Aus), Thomas Detry (Bel), Davis Thompson 13.13 Richard Bland (Eng), Lanto Griffin, (a) Trevor Gutschewski 13.24 Ryan Gerard, Edoardo Molinari (Ita), Sam Stevens 13.35 (a) Noah Kent, Thriston Lawrence (Rsa), Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 13.46 Jinichiro Kozuma (Jpn), (a) Cameron Tankersley, Chase Johnson 13.57 Philip Barbaree, Brady Calkins, Riley Lewis 17.30 Sam Bairstow (Eng), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Frederic Lacroix (Fra) 17.41 Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Joe Highsmith, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 17.52 Jacob Bridgeman, Victor Perez (Fra), Adam Schenk 18.03 Brooks Koepka, Min-Woo Lee (Aus), Justin Thomas 18.14 Sam Burns, Nicolas Echavarria (Col), Denny McCarthy 18.25 Viktor Hovland (Nor), Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler 18.36 Corey Conners (Can), Jason Day (Aus), Patrick Reed 18.47 Daniel Berger, Bud Cauley, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 18.58 Tony Finau, Mackenzie Hughes (Can), Chris Kirk 19.09 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den), Stephan Jaeger (Ger), (a) Benjamin James 19.20 Laurie Canter (Eng), (a) Justin Hastings (Cay), Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen (Den) 19.31 Roberto Diaz (Mex), Emilio Gonzalez (Mex), (a) Frankie Harris 19.42 Joey Herrera, George Kneiser, Grant Haefner Starting at hole 10 11.45 Zachary Blair, Alistair Docherty, Scott Vincent (Zim) 11.56 Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa), Jordan Smith (Eng), Eric Cole 12.07 Joo-Hyung Kim (Kor), Taylor Pendrith (Can), J. J. Spaun 12.18 Ludvig Aaberg (Swe), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Adam Scott (Aus) 12.29 Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy, Andrew Novak 12.40 Shane Lowry (Irl), Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Justin Rose (Eng) 12.51 Patrick Cantlay, Lucas Glover, Si-Woo Kim (Kor) 13.02 Brian Harman, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith (Aus) 13.13 Brian Campbell, Justin Lower, Niklas Noergaard (Den) 13.24 Johnny Keefer, (a) Jackson Koivun, Davis Riley 13.35 James Hahn, Mark Hubbard, (a) Michael La Sasso 13.46 Chris Gotterup, (a) Mason Howell, Joakim Lagergren (Swe) 13.57 Zachary Bauchou, Jackson Buchanan, (a) Lance Simpson 17.30 Will Chandler, Andrea Pavan (Ita), Takumi Kanaya (Jpn) 17.41 (a) Bryan Lee, Guido Migliozzi (Ita), Preston Summerhays 17.52 Max Greyserman, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa), Matt Wallace (Eng) 18.03 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa), Russell Henley, Nick Taylor (Can) 18.14 Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm (Spa), Jordan Spieth 18.25 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Sung-Jae Im (Kor), Sepp Straka (Aut) 18.36 Tom Hoge, J. T. Poston, Cameron Young 18.47 Michael Kim, Matthieu Pavon (Fra), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 18.58 Nick Dunlap, Marc Leishman (Aus), Aaron Rai (Eng) 19.09 Matthew Jordan (Eng), Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Yuta Sugiura (Jpn) 19.20 Trevor Cone, Ryan McCormick, (a) Zachery Pollo 19.31 James Nicholas, (a) Tyler Weaver (Eng), Riki Kawamoto (Jpn) 19.42 George Duangmanee, Harrison Ott, Austen Truslow
Author: Scott Murray (now) and David Tindall (earlier)