Oakmont, Pennsylvania – The first round of the 125º Open of US at the Oakmont Country Club is in the books, and although one of the most difficult tests of the golf put several players on their heels on Thursday, a handful fought well in the course and went to Friday with the hope of continuing his strong start.
JJ Spaun fired a 31 record in his first nine holes in the championship and then clung to his next nine to load a formidable and without fogey to take the first round advantage. Only nine players behind Span are under the pair.
With 54 holes, this is what caught our attention on Thursday and what we are watching in the second round.
What did you see in Ronda 1 and how do you expect Oakmont to play the rest of the week?
Mark Schlabach: There were a lot of butcher shop in Oakmont on Thursday, which makes Spaun's 4 -under 66 more impressive. As the two -time older champion Xander Schauffele said after his first round, it's only Thursday, so good luck keeping him in the next 54 holes.
It seemed that once the round of a golfer began to go along the wrong road, especially in the nine strikers, it was difficult to make things go back in the right direction. The fourth torque (4.91) and 17 (3.93), the shortest to 327 yards, were the only holes with average scores under the pair. The ninth of 463 yards, the longest PAR-4, was the most difficult (4.54).
It was hot Thursday, so the course dried up in the afternoon. It is forecast that temperatures will return to the low on Friday, so conditions can be difficult again. There is a decent possibility of thunderstorms on Saturday and Sunday, so things can become softer over the weekend.
The captain of the Liv Golf League, Jon Rahm, who carried a 1 less than 69 years, said the conditions were very different in the afternoon than the morning. The average score of the afternoon wave was approximately a better blow.
“Some of those holes were playing a little shorter,” Rahm said. “Some of those rebounds were perhaps a little firmer.”
Paolo Uggetti: Despite a shocking 4 bass round of JJ Span and 10 players who ended up under the pair, Oakmont still had the bite we expected on Thursday. Some of the best in the world were humiliated by thick and deep and innumerable uncomfortable lies, while the 16 players finished 10 in a worse or worse. I mean, even the number 1 player in the world made six Bogeys, the second mark of his career.
All this, of course, after the course was soaked with a large amount of rain during the past week.
“The easiest thing we are going to play this golf course is today,” said Patrick Reed. “Although the wind changed, when I was seeing it before in coverage, the boys were turning balls back to the hills 1 and 10. That will never happen again.”
“It is not as firm yet as a typical open of us probably,” said Brooks Koepka. “I mean, I understand that there was rain on Sunday night, so I understand it, but still, it will have some heat this weekend.”
Heat is approaching. On Thursday it is probably the easiest that the course will play from the point of view of the configuration, and if the current forecast of more rain on the weekend is maintained, I would not be surprised to see that the USGA becomes a little more evil with some of the positions of green pins and speeds.
“You shoot four level rounds, you're moving away with a medal and a trophy,” said Bob MacIntyre. “I'm sure I would take that.”
Although I am not sure that MacIntyre is right about it, if someone else can replicate the 66 of Span the rest of the way, they are likely to be in a great place to win the third specialty of the year.
Who has work to do on Friday to be close during the weekend?
Schlabach: Oakmont chewed many superstars on Thursday: the number 1 of the world Scottie Scheffler (3 Over), Bryson Dechambeau (3 Over), the winner of the Masters Rory Mcilroy (4 Over), Patrick Cantlay (6 Over), Justin Thomas (6 Over), Justin Rose (7 Over), SEPP STRAKA (8 OVER) and Shane Lowry (9 Over). Scheffler, Dechambeau and Mcilroy could still be at a surprising distance, but the others have a lot of work to do if they will be close during the weekend.
“I think the rough is incredibly penalizing,” Dechambeau said. “Even for a boy like me, I can't get out of that sometimes, depending on the lie. It was difficult. It was a brutal golf test. But one that I am excited for tomorrow. If I only order a couple of things and take a boost, we will see where it is going.”
The 60 best scores and ties will make the cut of 36 holes, and if Friday's play looks like the opening round, the cutting line will be several blows along. There were 78 golfers 4 or better after 18 holes, and the cutting line probably rises higher.
Who do you think is the favorite now after Ronda 1?
Schlabach: I will go with Brooks Koepka, and I will admit that I was starting to ask me if his days of competing in the specialties had ended. The cut was lost in the Masters and PGA championship, and it didn't look very good in doing so.
Koepka's results have not been much better in the LIV Golf League; He tied at 33 at 3 bass at the event last week in Gainesville, Virginia.
But the five times older champion recorded a 2 -under 68 and only has two of Span. He made an eagle in the 5 quarter and Birdies in numbers 17 and 18 to take impulse to his rental house.
“I thought I played quite consistently, I drove it very well,” Koepka said. “The iron game was quite good. When I missed it, I felt that I lost it in the right places. A couple of good bunker shots. I missed a small short [putt] in 14 maybe. Apart from that, I thought I played very solid. I am very happy with the way I finished, and I hope I drive tomorrow. “
Koepka hit only six of 14 streets, but won almost three blows around the green and almost 1½ of the shirt and in the green.
He said he has been working on bad swing positions and poor habits for months. He obtained a good rules from Swing coach, Pete Cowen, in a bunker during a practice round on Monday. Koepka said Cowen started so much that Justin Thomas had to do with him.
“Yes, Pete, I will keep that among us,” Koepka said. “I was not happy with that, but it was something that I think you need to listen, or needed to listen, at the right time. It is not the first time he does. He is not afraid.”
Uggetti: Before the tournament, I chose Rahm to win his second US Open., And I think it is still a real favorite after turning around Oakmont on a Thursday of 69 quite ordered blows. This is actually the sixth direct appearance of the US Open, where Rahm began the tournament with a 69.
“I'm extremely happy,” Rahm said. “I played an incredible golf to shoot 1 bass, which we don't usually say, right?”
RAHM won 3.55 Tee blows during his opening round, which leads all 155 players. The driver, he said earlier this week, had been giving problems to return last year, and has made a couple of changes and equipment settings, including a new axis, which have clearly helped. It reached 10 of 14 streets on Thursday, well above the average field, and is also among the top five in strokes won: focus.
Data Golf currently gives Rahm a 15.3% probability of winning the tournament, the highest in the field, and if his putter even improves slightly (he lost approximately half of a shot in the green), will be in a privileged position in a course like Oakmont. So yes, I'm staying with Spanish.
The biggest surprise/greatest disappointment?
Schlabach: What happens to James Nicholas, who is the golfer in the world in the world? On Thursday, 28, he took several attempts to qualify for the United States Open, but it seemed that it belonged to a low 69 on Thursday.
Nicholas played a football season and four golf at Yale. He was the Ivy League 2019 player and spent last season at the DP World Tour. Even better: his grandfather and his father worked as orthopedic surgeons for Jets, Knicks, Islanders and Rangers. Both operated on the knees of the former field marshal of the New York Jets Joe Namath. Maybe Nicholas guarantees that he will make the cut.
There are so many options for disappointments, but it is difficult to turn to anyone because the course is difficult. I thought we would see better JT results, which is in danger of missing the cut in its third rectum US Open and second consecutive specialization. He lost more than two blows to the approach, lost nine out of 18 streets, and lost more than a stroke around the greens. He did well.
Uggetti: The obvious answer is Spaun, but this is a guy who went to a playoff to players with Rory Mcilroy in March and had the opportunity to beat him. Even more surprising is Thriston Lawrence in 3 -under, who competed in the open championship last year, but the cut in the first two specialties of this year was lost.
“I feel that I look pretty good,” Lawrence said about Oakmont. “I like a difficult test, and I feel that for the shirt, just the distance I hit, my goals are quite large for the distance I left the tee.”
Lawrence only had a real bad hole on Thursday, the ninth torque 4, which doubled, but apart from that, he kept a clean card and made four birdies. Lawrence won blows in the field in each category, but like Span, it was the putter (3.53 hits won) that drove it to a strong round. We will see if that remains.
As for the real disappointments, it is easy to look at Mcilroy, Dechambeau and Scheffler, despite their rounds still do not take them out. A player of a player like Joaquín Niemann stands out just because he continues to fight in the main rounds of the championship and has not really competed despite winning four events in LIV this year.
However, none of those players fired from the tournament as Shane Lowry did. The Irish ended at 9 in Over despite hiding for Eagle in the third hole. In other words: it could have been even worse. Lowry held the last time the US Open was in Oakmont in 2016, but this year he will have to wait for a miracle on Friday if he wants any opportunity to play the weekend.
