Scottie Scheffler insisted Shinnecock Hills provided a ‘good battle’ during a windy opening round at the US Open, where many of the world’s best struggled in another tough major test.
The iconic New York course had produced controversy the last two times it hosted the US Open, with no player breaking par during the final round of the 2004 contest before slick greens and questionable pins produced third-round chaos in the 2018 edition.
There were concerns that strong winds would cause problems again this year, with predicted gusts of over 40 miles per hour on Thursday, causing the USGA to take action to avoid disruption from a ‘problematic’ forecast.
The USGA reduced the speed of the greens and syringed them between the morning and afternoon waves, reducing the prospect of balls blowing off the super-fast greens, while gusts slightly weaker than forecasted also prevented the wind from causing a stoppage.
Sustained gusts still left players battling to break par, with just six of the 78 players in the morning wave shooting a round in the 60s, while Scheffler’s bid to complete the career Grand Slam opened with a two-under 72.
Scottie Scheffler struggled with his approach play during an opening-round 72 at the US Open
“It felt like a day where a lot of good shots were going to get punished is,” Scheffler said. “You had to be hitting a great shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment. I think good [shots] would put you in some tough spots.
“Overall, it was a really challenging day. If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on nine that I would post two over today, I would definitely have taken it. It was a good battle.”
Playing partner JJ Spaun saw a tee shot on a par-three stop on the green but roll into a bunker before he could reach it, while several players experienced balls oscillating without it being sever enough to halt play.
“Obviously it got quite windy, but you couldn’t have asked for a better set-up,” Padraig Harrington said. “There obviously was a couple of tough holes, but all the tees were up. The pins were as easy as can be. Greens were soft. So it was a tough test but very, very fair.”
Tommy Fleetwood added: “I think they did an amazing job of making it as fair as you could possibly make a test of golf today, with the conditions that they had.”
McIlroy: Pars ‘were going to be good’ on ‘prudent’ set-up
Play was halted for two hours early on the opening morning for fog, leaving the opening round unable to be completed before darkness, while winds are not forecasted to be as strong over the final three days.
“It was tough around here without wind, and then it was blowing pretty hard – really hard,” Keegan Bradley said after an opening-round 70. “The USGA did a great job setting the course up because if the greens were any faster or firmer, we might not be playing right now.”
Rory McIlroy had carded an opening-round 80 when the US Open was last held here in 2018, but the world No 2 was happy to finish under-par this time despite closing a one-under 69 with back-to-back bogeys.
“The greens are pretty slow and quite receptive,” McIlroy said. “I think they need to be. It’s a challenging golf course already, and you put 30-mile-an-hour winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well.
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Rory McIlroy briefly jumped into the US Open lead during the opening round after a sensational eagle at the par-five fifth
“I think they were prudent with the course set-up. Especially starting with 156 [players] the first two days, you just want to get everyone around without too much issue. They set the course up for that, at least today.
“Went out with the mindset that pars were going to be good and if you could pick up a couple of birdies here and there, that’s always a bonus. Just minimizing the mistakes – I did that for the most part.”
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