LAST UPDATE | 16 Jun 2023
RICKIE FOWLER AND Xander Schauffele each shot the lowest single rounds in US open history to share the lead at Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday.
The American duo shot opening-round 62s — one shot off Max Homa’s course record at LA Country Club — to head into Friday on eight under par.
Rory McIlroy sits in joint fifth after an impressive five-under-par 65, the sole blemish of which arrived on the 18th.
The rest of the Irish contingent are already virtually out of contention after an extraordinarily low-scoring curtain-raiser: Shane Lowry and Séamus Power each shot two-over-par 72s, while both Padraig Harrington and Matthew McClean are a shot worse off on three over.
McIlroy, by contrast, began in electrifying fashion, birdieing five of his first nine holes to turn the corner in 30.
His march towards clubhouse leaders Fowler and Schauffele leveled off thereafter, but he still managed to birdie 15 and dig in for a tie for third — until the par-four 18th.
McIlroy found the fairway from the tee on the last but his subsequent approach found the notorious fescue on the fringes of the green, leaving him with a treacherous downhill chip.
It got worse, however: McIlroy caught all grass and no ball with the wedge on his third shot, eventually chipping out to within about 15 feet with his fourth.
He prevented total calamity, however, sinking the clutch uphill putt to save bogey — his first — and finish on five under for his round.
McIlroy had previously missed just one green in regulation and came up inches short on a handful of mid-to-long-range putts which would have put an even shinier complexion on a fine first-round effort.
Thursday made for the first time in his last seven events that the Northern Irishman has been inside the top 16 after his opening round.
He sits level with Brian Harman on five under, a shot back from Dustin Johnson and Wyndham Clark who are tied for third after respective 64s.
On a day of all-time-low opening-round scoring at Los Angeles CC, Fowler and Schauffele’s earlier rounds were not only US Open record-setters but the joint lowest scores ever recorded across all majors — alongside Branden Grace’s third-round 62 at the 2017 British Open.
Fowler, who was ranked 176th in the world as recently as last year, shot 10 birdies and two bogeys and was the first to earn his slice of US Open history as he parred his final hole, the par-three ninth.
Schauffele, who shot eight birdies and was blemishless all round, matched him on the same hole moments later.
Among several highlights on Thursday were two holes-in-one, each of them recorded on the same hole — the par-three 15th — by Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and American Sam Burns.
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On the LPGA Tour, Ireland’s Leona Maguire is three shots off the lead at the Meijer Classic after a three-under-par opening round of 69.
Maguire, however, is currently tied for 22nd in a condensed leaderboard at Blythefield Country Club in Belmont, Michigan, sitting alongside 11 other players on three under.
There is currently a five-way share for the lead between Americans Lindsey Weaver-Wright, Cheyenne Knight, and Jennifer Kupcho, as well as Sweden’s Frida Kinhult and Japan’s Ayaka Furue, all of whom carded six-under-par 66s.
Maguire recorded four birdies and one bogey — including a three-under-par run from 12 through 14 — to remain within touching distance of the leaders.
Olivia Mehaffey is also in action at the Amundi German Masters on the European Tour where she holds a one-shot after the opening round. The Belfast native hit an eight-under 64, picking up 10 birdies in all along with just two bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes.
