A quick look at Round 1 of the 122nd US Open
Weather: Partly cloudy. High of 76. Wind S 7-14 mph, with gusts to 21 mph.
First-Round Leaderboard
Adam Hadwin 66 (-4)
Callum Tarren 67 (-3)
David Lingmerth 67 (-3)
Rory McIlroy 67 (-3)
Joel Dahmen 67 (-3)
M.J. Daffue 67 (-3)
Things to Know
- Adam Hadwin records a 4-under 66, his lowest score in a major championship, and leads the U.S. Open by one stroke
- Rory McIlroy, winner of last week’s RBC Canadian Open, stands T2; last player to win on TOUR and win a major the following week: McIlroy, 2014 (WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, PGA Championship)
- Five of the six players at T2 or better (all but McIlroy) earned spots in the U.S. Open via Final Qualifying
- Defending champion Jon Rahm, 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas enter the second round T14 (1-under 69s)
- FedExCup leader and World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opens with an even-par 70 (T26)
First-Round Lead Notes
21: First-round leaders/co-leaders to win the U.S. Open (most recent: Martin Kaymer, 2014)
Adam Hadwin (1st/-4)
Age: 34 (November 2, 1987)
FedExCup No. 52
OWGR No. 105
Starts – wins – top-10s in PGA TOUR career 211-1-31
Starts – wins – top-10s on TOUR in 2021-22 20-0-4
Starts – wins – top-10s at U.S. Open 6-0-0
- Career-low score in a major championship (63rd career round in majors; seventh score in the 60s)
- Second career 18-hole lead/co-lead on TOUR and second of the season (Valspar Championship; finished T7)
- First lead/co-lead after any round in a major
- Previous-best 18-hole position in a major championship: T4, 2018 Masters Tournament (finished T24)
- Earned a spot in the U.S. Open via Final Qualifying at the Dallas, Texas site
- No top-10s in 19 previous starts in majors (best: T24/2018 Masters)
- Second time in the last three rounds at the U.S. Open that a player representing Canada holds at least a share of the lead (Mackenzie Hughes was T1 after the third round in 2021; finished T15)
Rory McIlroy (T2/-3)
- Successfully defended his title at last week’s RBC Canadian Open, earning his 21st PGA TOUR title and moving to T31 on the all-time PGA TOUR wins list
- Last player to win on TOUR and win a major the following week: McIlroy, 2014 (WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, PGA Championship)
- No player since WWII has won the U.S. Open after winning on TOUR the week before
- Last to win back-to-back starts: Scottie Scheffler (2022 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, 2022 Masters Tournament)
- Last to win back-to-back tournaments: Patrick Cantlay (2021 BMW Championship, 2021 TOUR Championship)
- Last to win back-to-back tournaments (FedExCup Regular Season): Brendon Todd (2019 Bermuda Championship, 2019 World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba)
- Four career major victories (2011 U.S. Open, 2012 PGA Championship, 2014 Open Championship, 2014 PGA Championship)
- 19 players have won five or more majors
Additional players at T2
- Callum Tarren: PGA TOUR rookie… missed the cut in his first eight starts of the season (first made cut: The Honda Classic/T30)… entered the week T187th on TOUR in first-round scoring average (71.69)… making second major championship start and first since 2019 U.S. Open (MC)… earned a spot in the U.S. Open via Final Qualifying at the Milton, Ontario site
- David Lingmerth: Making 11th major start and first since the 2018 PGA Championship (T63)… top-25s in all three prior starts at the U.S. Open (best: 12th/2016)… winner of the 2015 Memorial Tournament presented by Workday… earned a spot in the U.S. Open via Final Qualifying at the Columbus, Ohio site
- Joel Dahmen: Ties lowest score in a major championship (25th round in a major)… one top-10 in eight prior starts in majors (T10/2020 PGA Championship)… winner of the 2021 Corales Puntacana Championship… earned a spot in the U.S. Open via Final Qualifying at the Columbus, Ohio site
- M.J. Daffue: Making major championship debut… earned PGA TOUR card for the 2022-23 season via the Korn Ferry Tour on May 22… made nine starts on the PGA TOUR in the 2020-21 season, including five via Open Qualifying (Fortinet Championship, Sanderson Farms Championship, Sony Open in Hawaii, Corales Puntacana Championship, AT&T Byron Nelson)… earned a spot in the U.S. Open via Final Qualifying at the Springfield, Ohio site
Miscellaneous notes
- Defending champion Jon Rahm (T14) records a 1-under 69; last player to successfully defend title in a major championship: Brooks Koepka, 2019 PGA Championship
- 2022 PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (T14) cards a 1-under 69; last player to win back-to-back majors: Jordan Spieth, 2015 Masters Tournament and 2015 U.S. Open
- World No. 1 and FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler (T26) opens with an even-par 70; Scheffler finished T7 at the 2021 U.S. Open and is making his fifth appearance at the event
Notable notes:
Abraham Ancer, of Mexico, withdrew on Thursday morning due to an undisclosed illness. He was replaced in the field by two-time PGA Tour winner Patton Kizzire, the first alternate from the Roswell, Ga., final qualifying site.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler birdied his final two holes (Nos. 8 and 9) to shoot even-par 70.
Jon Rahm opened his title defense with a 1-under-par 69. He’s looking to be the first back-to-back champion since Brooks Koepka (2017-18). The Spaniard finished with a long birdie on No. 18 after a young spectator picked up his tee shot in the left rough. Under the Rules, he was able to replace the ball without penalty.
Reigning U.S. Amateur champion James Piot, who recently turned professional after completing his eligibility at Michigan State, matched Rahm with a 69. The last golfer to win the U.S. Open the year after winning the U.S. Amateur is Jack Nicklaus (1961 Amateur, 1962 U.S. Open).
Phil Mickelson celebrated his 52nd birthday on Thursday, but the five-time major champion struggled on the greens in shooting a 78.
Boston-area natives Michael Thorbjornsen (Wellesley) and Fran Quinn (Holden), who hit the opening tee shots off Nos. 1 and 10, respectively, posted rounds of 77 and 76, respectively. Thorbjornsen, the 2018 U.S. Junior Amateur champion and a rising junior at Stanford University, made the cut in 2019 at Pebble Beach. The 57-year-old Quinn, who briefly was atop the leader board after a birdie on No. 11, is the oldest qualifier in at least 40 years.
Quotable quotes:
“You’re going to encounter things this week that you don’t usually come across the other weeks of the year, and you just have to try to accept them as best you can.” – Rory McIlroy when asked about the thick rough around the edges of the bunkers
“I love this. I love these events. The grind isn’t always fun, but this is amazing.” – David Lingmerth (3-under 67) on the U.S. Open test
“Honestly, the first five holes when we had no wind, I was thinking we’re going to blow the roof off this place. Obviously, a well-designed golf course is always difficult. When the crosswinds started coming, it was tough… You have to really strike the ball well to put in those fairways, which I was able to do.” – defending champ Jon Rahm on the challenge of The Country Club
“I’ve tried to have no expectations coming into this week. I just want to enjoy the week, having obviously played so well here nine years ago. I’ve got great memories of the place, and the whole time I’ve been out, I see shots that I hit, and I see the places I was. I think because of that I’m a bit more at ease.” – Matthew Fitzpatrick (2-under 68) on trying to win again at The Country Club
“A 100 percent Justin Leonard vibe. I was reading the putt, and I was, like, this is the putt Justin Leonard had [in the 1999 Ryder Cup]. I hit it … and it went in with Justin Leonard’s speed. I don’t know if the camera stayed on me long enough, but I kind of had my hands in the air. I was going to run for a little longer like he did. I thought, you know what, I’m just going to [give] a little nod to Justin, but yeah, just trying to expel some European memories there.” – 2013 champion Justin Rose on the birdie putt he made on the famous par-4 17th
(From USGA and the PGA Tour)
