Funny game golf. On a day when one major champion, Danny Willett, failed to break 80 and two others, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day, struggled to stay in the 70s, Rickie Fowler’s seven-under-par 65 leads the 117th US Open at the end of day one.
That the colourful Californian’s name should appear at the top of a major championship leaderboard is not so shocking. But consider this: as the end of a long day approached, Fowler was the only player in the world’s top-10 amongst the top-45 in what purports to be the “toughest” of the four Grand Slam events.
What this says about the type and quality of the challenge presented by the 7,741-yards that are Erin Hills remains to be seen. But when golf’s five highest-ranked practitioners are collectively 19-over par, one has to wonder.
Fowler, who is yet to claim one of golf’s majors, holds a one-stroke lead over American Xander Schauffele and England's Paul Casey, who both carded rounds of 66.
“The first thing is getting off to a good start Thursday, keeping that rolling and getting ourselves in contention Sunday," Fowler said. “There's a lot of golf to be played. But yeah, I'm ready to be out there. Having a win this year at Honda, being in contention at majors in the past, and having the Players win has definitely done a lot for me.”
Pride of place as far as the five-strong Australian contingent is concerned went to Marc Leishman. Despite finding only nine of 13 fairways off the tee, only once did the 33-year old Victorian drop a shot to par; five times he made birdie to shoot 68.
“My short game and putting were really good,” he said. “I had a lot of very makeable birdie chances and my iron play was good. I didn't drive it great but when I did miss I was in not that bad a spot. Hopefully I can keep hitting my irons and wedges the way I have been and tighten up off the tee. I've got some improving to do, but I don't mind that. I don't mind shooting four under.”
Just about as pleased with his day’s work – eventually – was Adam Scott. Okay, the former Masters champion’s 72 surely wasn’t quite what he had in mind before teeing-off, but it could have been so much worse. Four-over-par with four holes to play, Scott finished birdie-birdie-par-eagle to transform a bad round into an okay round. Afterwards, he had the look of a condemned man who had been the fortunate beneficiary of a last-minute pardon from a benevolent state governor.
“For a long time it looked like I was playing my way out of the tournament, but now I’m right back in it,” he said. “It was odd. I was confident the last few days and before teeing-off today. But I got off to a wobbly start. I was nervous. I was anxious. And there were a lot of voices in my head on the front-nine. That’s never good in the US Open.”
Not for the first time, Scott’s caddie, Steve Williams, played his part in the last-minute revival.
“Steve challenged me to shoot three under on the back-nine,” Scott said. “That wasn’t looking good after another bogey and in the end he challenged me to shoot four under for the last four. And I did. That finish showed how much I want to win this thing.
“I’m not here just to make the cut; I want to win. A good round tomorrow can get me into that position, even if the leaders reach double-digits. Even seven back going into the weekend is okay; I know the course is going to play harder then.”
Not surprisingly, Day was less effusive after walking off with a 79 – his worst score in seven US Open starts – that makes his participation over the last two rounds more than doubtful.
“I had two triples out there,” was his immediate response to the obvious question. “I just played some bad golf. I can’t put it any other way. There was some good stuff – I killed the par-5s today – but it was mixed with some really bad stuff. It was weird. But I gave it 100 percent and shot 79.
“I need a lot of birdies tomorrow to get myself back in the tournament. I’m assuming the USGA don’t like to see seven-under-par lead the championship.”
Still, for all Day’s travails, perhaps the most disappointed of the Australians was Wade Ormsby. One under with four holes to play, the South Australian was derailed by a brace of double bogies and subsided to a 75 that was matched by former US Amateur champion Nick Flanagan. Both men will require to shoot lower scores on day two if they are to be around for the weekend. Day, on the other hand, will need a miracle.
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