Golf professionals Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele started the 123rd US Open with record rounds.
The Americans only needed 62 shots each for the par 70 course at the Los Angeles Country Club. Never before in the history of the tournament had a player used so few strokes for 18 holes.
Things didn’t go so well for Martin Kaymer in his first major tournament in more than a year. The 38-year-old came into the clubhouse with a 73 and has to worry about the cut after the first day. Kaymer enjoys a starting right at the US Open due to his triumph in 2014.
Not a PGA tournament at the country club since 1940
Fowler and Schauffele coped brilliantly from the start with the field, which was unfamiliar to almost all players and on which a PGA tournament was last held in 1940, and initially had a clear lead. However, the majority of the competitors were still on the green at this point.
The previous US Open record was 63 shots, set between 1973 and 2018 by six different players on different courts.
Pavon manages a hole-in-one
Another highlight on Thursday was Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, who managed a hole-in-one on the par 3 hole 15 – i.e. putting the hole in directly from the tee. The two stars Dustin Johnson (USA/64 strokes) and Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland/65) are also promising in the race.
On the other hand, the American Brooks Koepka, who had recently won his fifth major title at the PGA Championship and came into the clubhouse with 71 strokes, was already clearly behind.