On to Round Two
The first round of the 124th U.S. Open in Pinehurst is in the books. If the first round is any indication, we are in for a great championship. Patrick Cantlay and Rory Mcllroy are sitting at the top of the field tied at -5.
Cantlay began his impressive first round on the back nine Thursday. With six birdies and only one bogey, he hit 14/14 fairways, 18/18 greens and had 23 puts. “I got off to a good start, bunker shot on 11. Played pretty solid most of the way. I thought the golf course played pretty difficult. But drove it well. A lot of balls on the fairway. Left the ball in the right spots, for the most part.” said Cantlay.
Cantlay will tee off for round two Friday on the first hole at 1:25 p.m. Cantlay will tee off for round two on Friday and will be paired with Matt Kuchar (T50 +2) and Russell Henley (T16 E).
Mcllroy also had a great round going bogey free and being only the seventh golfer to do so during U.S. Opens at Pinehurst #2. He hit 11/14 fairways, 15/18 greens, and 28 puts to shoot -5.
“Just trying to hit it into the middles of greens and giving yourself chances every single time, taking your medicine if you do hit it into trouble. My short game was good early on. I chipped in at 5 and had a really good up-and-down on 6, another really good up-and-down on 8. But apart from that, I think I hit every other green. It was a really controlled round of golf,” said Mcllroy. “Had a lot of really good numbers today where I could just go ahead and hit full shots. Whenever you’re hitting full shots into these greens, the ball is going to stop a little quicker than if you have to take something off or hit little three-quarter shots. Some days you have good numbers and some days you don’t, and for the most part today, I’ve had good numbers.”
Mcllroy will tee off at 7:29 a.m. on hole 10 with Xander Schauffele (T16 E) and Scottie Scheffler (T34 +1).
Fan favorites Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler struggled in round one. Woods struggled with his short game and on the greens. “Well, I didn’t hit my irons particularly well. Didn’t putt that great. Drove it on the string all day. Unfortunately, I just didn’t capitalize on it,” said Woods. Woods finds himself entering round two T86 +4. He will tee off at 1:14 p.m. on the first hole with Will Zalatoris (T105 +5) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (T65 +3).
Tiger Woods
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Scheffler is T34 shooting +1 in the first round. Hitting only 6/14 fairways, 12/18 greens, and 31 puts.
Scottie Scheffler
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The first round average score was 73.25 (+3.25) very close to 2014 in Pinehurst 73.231. 15 players shot under par in the first round, same as 2014. In 1999 23 shot under and in 2005 only 9. In the opening round of all Pinehurst #2 U.S. Opens, only one player had a bogey free opening round, David Duval, in 1999. Thursday Sergio Garcia and Rory Mcllroy became the second and third.
Written by Curtis Self
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