SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Shinnecock Hills has never looked like this for a U.S. Open, not with such receptive greens and putting surfaces slow enough to keep shots from rolling off the edges and down the slopes.
About the only familiarity Thursday was the scoring, kept in check by a strong wind that finally shooed away the fog and gave Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and the rest all they could handle.
Sam Stevens overcame a double bogey to start his
round — a hole that took him over two hours to play because of the fog — and strung together six birdies that carried him to a 2-under 68, making him one of only six players from the early starters to beat par.
McIlroy saved par on a wild ride along the fourth hole, hit a pitching wedge into 12 feet on the downwind par-5 fifth hole for eagle, closed with two bogeys and was more than happy with a 69, particularly considering it was 11 shots better than the start he had at Shinnecock in 2018.
Also at 69 were Ludvig Aberg and 2023 British Open champion Brian Harman, Max Greyserman and Ben James, the college star in his second week as a pro.
Scheffler, needing a U.S. Open title for the career Grand Slam, had to rely heavily on his short game to salvage a 72.
“The greens haven't been too firm, the fairways haven't been too firm, so I've really felt like it's pretty scorable,” said Stevens, who had only his second sub-70 round in his fourth U.S. Open. “Obviously, it's difficult, but overall it's an awesome place. I think the setup is great right now.”
For one day — half of the opening round — the USGA might have been leader in the clubhouse.
Coming off two Opens at Shinnecock when the course got out of control, the USGA planned to slow the greens to 10 1/2 on the Stimpmeter — rare for any major, much less the U.S. Open — and keep plenty of water on the putting surfaces.
It was all due to the wind, which did not disappoint. The sustained wind approached 25 mph, and gusts were even stronger. And if that wasn't enough, it shifted directions in the middle of the day.
“It was tough around here without wind, and then it was blowing pretty hard — really hard,” Keegan Bradley said after a 70. “The USGA did a great job setting the course up because if the greens were any faster or firmer, we might not be playing right now.”
McIlroy hit wedge to 3 feet on No. 3, his 12th of the day, not the play he envisioned. He was trying to land it four paces short of the pin. It went four paces long and spun back to set up an easy birdie.
“The greens obviously are very receptive with them expecting this wind,” he said.
For all the concern about wind and the course drying out, it turned out to be another weather that got in the way — fog. Thirty minutes after the U.S. Open began, play was stopped and led to a two-hour delay. It was particularly tough on Stevens.
He laid back off the tee at No. 10 and was preparing for his approach when the horn sounded. When he returned, his 6-iron came up short and back down the hill, he chunked his wedge and his U.S. Open began with a double bogey.
“Didn't get to hit my second shot for 2 1/2 hours, or whatever it was,” Stevens said. “Got off to kind of a weird start, but made a birdie on the very next hole. It felt like I settled in after that ... The greens were a bit softer. I felt like you could hit good shots close to the hole, and then made a few nice putts, so overall good.”
McIlroy, whose lone U.S. Open title was 15 years ago on rain-softened Congressional, did some of his best work on the fourth hole. He pulled his tee shot into the knee-high, wispy hay on the left, and his next shot bounced off a cart path some 50 yards away. He hit wedge over where the gallery had been standing and holed an 18-foot putt. He followed that with his eagle — his first at the U.S. Open since 2017 at Erin Hills — until getting tripped up at the end.
“The greens are pretty slow and quite receptive. I think they need to be at this point. It’s a challenging golf course already, and you put 30-mile-an-hour winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well,” McIlroy said. “I think they were prudent with the course setup.”
Scheffler fell to 3 over when he missed the fairway in high grass to the right on No. 8, did well to punch out into a bunker, blasted out to 18 feet and three-putted for double bogey. Then, his blind shot to the ninth green came back off the front of the green. He holed a 6-foot putt to save par, and that proved key as he limited the damage with a 34 on the back.
“If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on 9 that I would post 2 over today, I would definitely have taken it at the time,” Scheffler said. “Overall, it was a good battle.”
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