US Open: Day 1 Report

The 124th edition of the US Open kick-started on Thursday 13 June. Rory McIlroy ended the day on the tied on the leader board. The two-time US Open Champion finished a shooting of bogey-free 5under 65 equal to Patrick Cantlay. In the last three occasions, MclLroy has gone bogey-free in the opening rounds in major and has gone on to win all of them. It has been a decade since he last won a major championship but the way he played on Thursday shows that the history awaits over the weekend. He managed to be clinical in his game and will require his competitors to raise their standards to match him or become close to winning the title. His monster drives were on point throughout the day. 

Meanwhile, Cantlay will be very pleased to sit on the leading board. The eight-time PGA Tour winner was on top of his game throughout and ended up shooting 5 under 65 and six birdies to be in pole position to claim a title. He has never tasted a major in his career and looks edging closer to ending that drought. His previous best finish in 30 majors was third in the 2019 PGA Championship. Sergio Garcia and Ludvig Aberg were among the players that turned up the heat in the opening round. 

Before the tournament, Tiger Woods’s name was all over the media as he was making an appearance for the first time in four years. The 15-time major winner suffered leg injuries in 2021 and had to deal with overcoming them. As the most prolific golfer among 156 names, Woods didn’t enjoy the great start on the day. Playing less competitive games had an impact on how things turned out to be for him. He has to up his game going to the last three days.

Not only Woods had a very tough day as Phil Mickelson hit 79, 9 bogeys, and zero birdies. The 2021 PGA Championship winner will have to turn things around going forward but things have not been looking up great for him in the past few months. The struggle with the form has been a thing that has hit him hard. Even Justin Thomas hit 77 and finished at T8 overall. His 77 is probably not enough to make him survive for the three days and is likely to go packing in the early stages. He will need a miracle to survive and a remarkable turnaround of things.

One of the top players in the world Victor Vohland didn’t enjoy a great start either. He never had back-to-back par until the final two holes to finish with 78 on the first day. Look like his quest for the major will have to wait till further notice. The world no 1 Scottie Scheffler started bright but things took another turn in the finishing stages. He finished with a disappointing one-over 71 and was six shots behind the leaders.