Key events
“This is not a true links, but it’s playing like one,” says David Howell as he joins the TV coverage. Ewen Murray is suggesting that 73 will be a good score today and that seems to be a widely held view. The course has been watered, there was fog early and yet the greens are still not receptive so it’s going to get tougher as the day goes on.
Clean cut Ludvig Åberg finds a birdie at 15 by rattling in a 30-foot putt at pace to get to 2-under and join Sam Burns at the top of the leaderboard. Playing partner Rory McIlroy didn’t learn about the line and makes par to stay at 1-under. Tommy Fleetwood cannot save his par and slips to 1-over.
Back on the front nine, Scottie Scheffler joins Fleetwood on 1-over after a bogey.
Scottie Scheffler finds the hay to the right of the 4th. Camera footage from directly above the World No. 1 is remarkable, showing him thrashing the ball from long fescue grass that is swaying in the wind. He misses the green and clips his pitch to the heart of the green, but is not threatening the hole – he’s fighting to make par..
Rory McIlroy found the 1th (his 5th) green. But stopping his lengthy birdie putt was tricky. Like Fleetwood’s approach, there was no resistance in the putting surface and it slips 6-feet by the hole. He makes the par, however. Fleetwood completes his up-and-down for another par. The third man in the group Ludvig Åberg drains a 10-footer for another four.
Tommy Fleetwood, dressed in three shades of beige, takes aim at the green on 5. He and caddie Ian Finnis talked long and hard about the challenge. The ball intially found the putting surface but there was no resistance and the ball just didn’t want to stop. It was like knocking a ball down the M6 and hoping to stop it by the entrance to Sandbach Services. Alas it slipped on and on, leaving him a tricky pitch back to the pin.
Thanks Dave. Sam Burns has flirted with quite a few major championship first round leads in recent times. Dave noted (15.55) that he was right in the thick of things in last year’s US Open. He was also the first round pace setter in this year’s Masters and one shot back of the 54 hole lead in the 2024 Open. Such log books always beg two questions: 1. Is he learning lessons about contending? Or 2. Is there scar tissue?
Meanwhile, at the 523-yard par-4 5th, Rory McIlroy pipes a wonderful drive down the right side of the fairway.
Time now to hand you over to Matt Cooper for more coverage. Here’s the latest leaderboard as the wind continues to pick up:
-2: Burns (4*)
-1: McDowell (5*), Bradley (3), Novak (3), McIlroy (4*), Aberg (4*), N Taylor (3), James (2*)
Sam Burns was the 54-hole leader in last year’s US Open at Oakmont. It got away from him on a tough Sunday there but his tied seventh represented a second straight US Open top 10 after tied ninth at Los Angeles Country Club in 2023. His bid for a third straight big finish – and perhaps even a first major – is off to a strong start after two birdies in his opening four holes (11 and 13). He converted them from six feet and seven feet respectively and, in fact, Burns now leads on his own after Rory fails to get up and down at 13.
Sounds of day one: gusting winds and the mournful wail of locomotive horns. They’re the backdrop as Scheffler’s tee-shot at the meaty 251-yard par-3 2nd creeps onto the green. At 13, Rory’s hat blows off as he fires from the tee. Both find the rough. But while it’s a simple task to pop the Nike headwear back on his bonce, Rory can’t control his ball from the thick grass and it bounds off and away after a hard bounce on the green. Short-game skills required now.
Sunset time in New York this evening is 20:30 so it’ll be a struggle to get round one completed. Meanwhile, at the top of the leaderboard, Nicholas drops two shots at the par-3 7th, carelessly missing a tiddler for his bogey.
But while Nicholas spirals down to even par, we have a new leader on -2 and it’s a certain Rory McIlroy! The Northern Irishman drains a birdie putt from 25 feet at the 12th, his third, to hit top spot. On the same hole (a 472-yarder), Fleetwood balances the books with a birdie to wipe out his opening bogey.
Solid par for Scheffler at 1. Fairway (tick), green (tick), two putts from 20 feet (tick). Classic US Open par golf. But current champ, Spaun, can only manage the first of those ideals and misses a seven-foot par putt to drop a shot at his opening hole.
Earlier, McDowell’s bid to for a birdie-birdie-birdie start just failed after his putt at 12 lipped out. But he’s followed that par with a bogey at the par-4 13th after a play-by-play that shows “native area” off the tee and taking three swipes to reach the green.
McIlroy bellows at his tee-shot at the par-3rd 11th to “sit”. But there’s no need to feel any anxiety as his ball lands safely on the green and pulls back to around 11 feet. Rory steadies himself and pops in the putt. Birdie! Then he’s into his conserve energy in tough conditions routine: head down, look at marking on ball, short acknowledgement to crowd, walk to next tee.
-2: Nicholas (6)
-1: McDowell (4*), Reitan (3*), Burns (2*), Novak (2), McIlroy (2*)
“From Dallas, Texas, please welcome Scottie Scheffler.” A fairly low-key introduction for the World No 1, who can become just the seventh man in history to complete the Grand Slam of all four majors if he wins the US Open this week. Scheffler, dressed exactly the same as McIlroy with white hat, grey jumper and dark slacks, hits an iron 260 yards into the fairway. Scheffler is part of a three-ball featuring current US Open champion J.J. Spaun and US Amateur champ Mason Howell.
Great lag putt from McIlroy at 10 results in a tap-in par. You’ll take those all day here in these conditions. A nice way to start. But it’s been a testing opening hole for Fleetwood. After a drive that missed the fairway, his second bounds away into a hollow left of the green. The pitch is decent but his 11-footer for par stays above ground and that’s a dropped shot out of the gate.
The wind is really whipping off the right as McIlroy plays his 173-yard approach to 10. He backs off, unsure. But when Rory finally does pull the trigger, he finds the heart of the green. The Masters champ will have two putts from 40 feet for his par.
Up ahead, McDowell is making a mockery of the conditions. After a birdie at 10, he adds another from just inside nine feet at 11 to hit -2. And after an excellent approach at 12, the Pebble Beach hero could make it a hat-trick of opening birdies if he can sink a 12-footer.
Here goes Rory! Like his fellow Northern Irishman, Graeme McDowell, McIlroy is teeing off at 10. He takes iron and safely finds the fairway. He has Shinnecock runner-up, Tommy Fleetwood, and Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg for company today. Perhaps a bit of Ryder Cup chat between that trio as all played in Europe’s victory at nearby Bethpage Black last year. As I write that, defeated Ryder Cup skipper Keegan Bradley misses a six-footer for par at his opening hole.
Half the field is starting at 10 today and that includes former US Open champ Graeme McDowell. G-Mac won this event at Pebble Beach in 2010 so enjoys a windy, coastal test. And he can still putt too, draining a 25-footer for an opening birdie. Kristoffer Reitan, surely on the current Mount Rushmore of Norwegian sports stars after his Truist Championship win, also makes a 3 at the 10th.
-1: Nicholas (4), B Wu (2), McDowell (1*), Reitan (1*)
Koepka, whose pink and white horizontal striped shirt makes him look like a boiled sweet from the 70s, finds sand with his approach at 1. But he plays a sugary bunker shot to kick-in range and saves par. Cam Young produces an even better up and down to make his 4, launching a giant flop shot that sits down four feet from the flag.
We have the first big group of the day hitting off. That’ll be Brooks Koepka, the winner the last time Shinnecock staged this event in 2018, Players Championship winner Cameron Young and current Scottish Open, Sony Open and WM Phoenix Open champ Chris Gotterup. Koepka and Young find the short grass with irons but Gotterup ends in a greenside bunker after taking a more aggressive approach by smashing driver. The 1st is a short par-4 measuring 396 yards so a fairly gentle introduction to a fearsome course.
James Nicholas sounds more like a county cricketer than a man leading the US Open. But the 29-year-old has an interesting background and his family are well known in some local New York circles.
From Nicholas’ US Open profile: “His grandfather and father are both noted orthopaedic surgeons who served as team doctors for the N.Y. Jets, N.Y. Knicks, N.Y. Islanders and N.Y. Rangers. Each has performed surgeries on Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath. His father, Stephen, played football and baseball at Harvard. James Nicholas qualified for a pair of U.S. Amateurs and was the 2019 Ivy League Player of the Year. In 2024, he won the New York State Open at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course, a two-time U.S. Open venue.”
James Nicholas is the first man under par. Just off the green at the 497-yard par-4 3rd hole, he’ll be happy to get down in two from 50 feet away. But his putt, up and over a ridge, always looks on a good line and it has the perfect pace too. In it goes for an unlikely birdie.
Sixteen players have completed at least one hole and they’re a collective 12-over. That, and the style of the bunkers, remind us that we’re watching a US Open and not at Open.
The flapping flags, the grey skies, the fescue, the big greens with steep run-offs, players in jumpers to keep the chill off. This has more the look and feel of an Open Championship than a US Open in June.
England’s Matthew Jordan has a birdie putt from 14 feet at No.1 to become the first player in red figures. It’s bang on line but comes up just short. The greens were being watered during the weather break due to fears that strong winds later today would make them unplayable. Add in some morning dew in the foggy conditions and perhaps putts will be underhit until players start to adjust.
The horn blows and play resumes. Rory McIlroy currently on the range. He’s due to tee off two hours later than scheduled so that’ll be 14:52 BST.
With the delay precisely two hours in duration, let’s relist the tee-times. I’ve basically gone into them and added two hours. I think that’ll work. If somehow it’s not quite this neat, l apologise. Let’s see how we go.
14:08 Carl Yuan (Chn), Brandon Wu, Jimmy Stanger
14:19 Padraig Harrington (Ire), Miles Russell (x), Cameron Smith (Aus)
14:30 Brooks Koepka, Cameron Young, Chris Gotterup
14:41 Daniel Berger, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler
14:52 Patrick Reed, Andrew Novak, Kurt Kitayama
15:03 Harris English, Adam Scott (Aus), Nick Taylor (Can)
15:14 Mason Howell (x), Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun
15:25 Sahith Theegala, Jackson Koivun (x), Michael Kim,
15:36 JB Holmes, Filippo Celli (Ita), Jackson Ormond (x)
15:47 Jake Peacock, Vaughn Harber (x), Kaito Onishi (Jpn)
19:30 Niklas Norgaard (Den), Rocco Repetto Taylor (Esp), Sudarshan Yellamaraju (Can)
19:41 Laurie Canter (Eng), John Parry (Eng), Bryan Lee (x)
19:52 Chris Kirk, Max McGreevy, Jake Knapp
20:03 Harry Hall (Eng), Michael Brennan, Andrew Putnam
20:14 Davis Thompson, Preston Stout (x), David Puig (Esp)
20:25 Ryo Hisatsune (Jpn), Corey Conners (Can), Ryan Fox (Nzl)
20:36 Ryan Gerard, Russell Henley, Ben Griffin
20:47 Justin Thomas, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Xander Schauffele
20:58 Nicolai Hojgaard (Den), Nico Echavarria (Col), Robert MacIntyre (Sco)
21:09 JT Poston, Patrick Cantlay, Billy Horschel
21:20 Arni Sveinsson (x) (Ice), Taihei Sato (Jpn), Marcelo Rozo (Col)
21:31 Nick Hardy, Cole Hammer, Jack Schoenberger, United States.
21:42 Marek Fleming (x), Tom Kim (Kor), Giuseppe Puebla (x)
Starting at Hole 10
14:08 Adrien Dumont de Chassart (Bel), Ben Silverman (Can), Emiliano Grillo (Arg)
14:19 Patrick Rodgers, Keith Mitchell, Graeme McDowell (NIrl)
14:30 Sungjae Im (Kor), Lucas Herbert (Aus), Kristoffer Reitan (Nor)
14:41 Sam Burns, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Si Woo Kim (Kor)
14:52 Rory McIlroy (NIrl), Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Tommy Fleetwood (Eng)
15:03 Alex Noren (Swe), Maverick McNealy, Sepp Straka (Aut)
15:14 Max Greyserman, Brian Harman, Jacob Bridgeman
15:25 Alex Fitzpatrick (Eng), Tom Kim (Kor) Ben James
15:36 Brandon Holtz (x), Ryuichi Oiwa (Jpn), Dylan Wu
15:47 Greyson Leach, Logan Reilly (x), Robbie Higgins
19:30 William Mouw, Ryder Cowan (x), Hennie du Plessis (Rsa)
19:41 Adrien Saddier (Fra), Jackson Van Paris, Ugo Coussaud (Fra)
19:52 Neal Shipley, Matti Schmid (Ger), Bud Cauley
20:03 Pierceson Coody, Zac Blair, Kevin Roy
20:14 Aaron Rai (Eng), Collin Morikawa, Jason Day (Aus)
20:25 Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland (Nor), Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng)
20:36 Dustin Johnson, Wyndham Clark, Gary Woodland
20:47 Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Alex Smalley, Shane Lowry (Ire)
20:58 Akshay Bhatia, Carlos Ortiz (Mex), Min Woo Lee (Aus)
21:09 Justin Rose (Eng), Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm (Esp)
21:20 Ben Kohles, Johnny Keefer, Matt McCarty
21:31 Angel Hidalgo (Esp), Mateo Pulcini (x) (Arg), Spencer Tibbits
21:42 Matthew Robles (x), Jake Sollon, Manav Shah
Play to resume at 09:05 ET after two-hour delay
Good news! “Round 1 of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills will resume at 9:05 a.m. ET.” So says the official tweet. That’s just over 15 minutes away.
Weather delay in the golf but they’re playing at the Oval. Should be the other way round surely?
While we wait, have a read of this Shinnecock scene setter from Bryan Armen Graham.
Official update: There’ll be another update shortly. That will tell us when the next update is. Basically, the USGA are posting updates every 15 minutes to tell us another update is 15 minutes away. Nothing they can do really. At least we’re being informed.
Meanwhile, Padraig Harrington says: “I just want to go back to bed.” The three-time major winner, now 54, needs to get those joints loosened up these days so isn’t thrilled about the prospect of having to go through a second warm-up … whenever that is.
Rickie Fowler is one of the morning starters waiting for the skies to clear. He’s just given a shrug-laden interview. “Kind of just sit and wait. There’s nothing we can do about what we can and can’t see out there. I wasn’t expecting some low-hanging clouds like this, so sit and wait.
“Good to see some of the shots this morning, roughly how the golf course is playing. And yeah, kind of just wait. I know we’re supposed to have wind and gusts that are supposed to pick up as the day goes on. And yeah, hopefully get it moving forward out there.”
Fowler was runner-up in the US Open at Pinehurst in 2014 while in 2023 at Los Angeles Country Club he started out with a remarkable 62, the joint-lowest score in the history of men’s majors.
Exactly an hour since play was suspended. Still looks pretty foggy.
Official US Open weather update: “Round 1 remains suspended. Next update: 8:00am. ET.” That’s 1pm UK so we’ll know more in around five minutes. Players currently in the practice areas, working on some chipping and putting.
The very early starters did get a couple of holes in at least. No-one is under par though with the eight-way tie for the lead on evens including Jackson Suber and amateur Ethan Fang. Last June, American Fang won the 130th Amateur Championship at Royal St George’s. Both have played just a single hole. Fellow Americans James Nicholas and Caleb Surratt occupy the top two slots on the leaderboard after both managed to par the first two holes.
Let’s go! Oh, maybe not. The weather on Long Island isn’t behaving and play is currently suspended. Players were taken off at 12.05pm UK time due to fog.
The official line is that we’ll get another update in just under 10 minutes.
Preamble
What a time to be a New Yorker.
The Knicks have just won their first NBA championship since 1973, there’s a World Cup in town and one of its most famous golf courses is staging this week’s US Open.
Shinnecock Hills, in the Hamptons don’t you know, is the only US Open venue to host the tournament in three different centuries. And while there’s only one road in and out for those making the trip to Long Island, the traffic chaos just adds to the theme of the week: don’t expect anything to come easy.
In the four US Opens staged since 1986 only three men have emerged from the wreckage with scorecards totting up to an under-par total. Shinnecock is hard, brutal at times, and a windy forecast for this links-style, exposed piece of property – particularly in today’s first round – could see scores rocket. Not that it’s unusual.
In 2018, none of the last 45 players to tee off in round three broke the par of 70, while in 2004 the final-round scoring average ballooned to a mighty 78.7 with the par-3 7th needing to be watered between groups with conditions bordering on the impossible.
As usual, there’s a plethora of storylines waiting to be written. Will Scottie Scheffler become just the seventh player to complete the Grand Slam (a first US Open would complete his set)? Can Rory McIlroy add a seventh major, a record for any European player? And is this the week when Tommy Fleetwood or Tyrrell Hatton – second and sixth respectively at Shinnecock in 2018 – win a first major title?
Let’s find out!
