BROOKLINE, Mass. – On a cool and calm Thursday played under cloudy skies, Rory McIlroy fumed on the fifth hole of his first round at The Country Club at the 122nd US Open.
On the manageable par 4, McIlroy’s tee shot ended in strong, high rough skirting a bunker. He was forced to take a very awkward position in the bunker and drown himself in the well. And then he hit the ball 10 yards into another bunker and took some powerful shots into the sand in frustration.
But McIlroy pulled himself together and made a 13-foot par to keep the momentum on his side. He would finish his second nine with birdies on two of his last three holes to post a 3-under 67 to move into contention for his fifth major.
“You’re going to run into things at a US Open, whether it’s lies or things like that, that you really don’t run into any other week,” McIlroy said. “The thickest rough on the course is around the edges of the bunkers. So he was cursing the USGA.
“You just have to accept it. I took a couple of hits to the sand because I’d already messed it up, so it wasn’t like it was much more work for Harry (Diamond, his caddy), and then I just reset and played a decent bunker shot, and then it was really nice to hole that putt.”
US OPEN: Results of the first round of The Country Club
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He made plenty of other putts and, for the second straight major, found himself on the front page of the standings at the end of the day; he took the lead in the first round with a 65 at last month’s PGA Championship before fading, then rallied in the final round but fell short en route to finishing eighth.
“Sitting here talking about the bad stuff when 17 of the holes were really good. I am happy with the start. I thought my mindset was really good,” McIlroy said. “A really solid start. You would take 67 for this golf course any day. Although I’m here a little frustrated because I bogeyed the last one, it’s a great start to the tournament.
“I felt like I did most things right today. I certainly putted well, and hit the ball in the right places, and hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of chances. I basically did everything you need to do at a US Open.”
Adam Hadwin was at the top of the leaderboard for most of his afternoon run. He walled the last six holes to cap a sterling 66 to hold onto the lead alone.
Joining McIlroy at 67 WAS Callum Tarren, Joel Dahmen, David Lingmerth and MJ Daufee. The week didn’t start well for Tarren as his sticks didn’t come with him from Toronto. It was the second time at a US Open that his clubs weren’t with him after a flight. At the 2019 US Open in Pebble Beach, he didn’t get the stick from him until the day before the tournament started. This year, however, there was only a one-day delay.
Tarren finished with birdie-eagle-par.
“My caddy kept saying, pars are good, pars are good, and I made a lot of pars, but to have an ending like that just beats the round,” he said.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot 70, defending champion Jon Rahm shot 69, reigning PGA champion Justin Thomas shot 69, and Phil Mickelson, who finished runner-up six times in the championship, shot 78.
Dustin Johnson, the 2016 US Open champion, was the player under of the 15 on the course that joined LIV Golf. He shot 68. Also at 68 was Matt Fitzpatrick, who won the 2013 US Amateur at The Country Club.
McIlroy has won four majors, most recently eight years ago at the 2014 PGA Championship. That week, he became the last player to win a major championship after winning the week before (he won the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio).
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He can do it again. The 2011 US Open Champion won last week’s RBC Canadian Open for his 21st PGA Tour title. And McIlroy could become the first in the history of the game to win a PGA Tour event the week before winning the US Open.
He is in a position to do it.
“You feel like you’re on the right track in the tournament from the start of the week, which is good,” McIlroy said of getting off to a strong start in a major. “I’ll go into tomorrow with the mindset of let’s move on, instead of knowing where the cut line is or whatever, if you don’t get off to a great start, those thoughts start creeping in. OK, what do I need? only be here for the weekend? It is certainly a different mindset when you start well.
“I just have to keep it going.”
