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Sights, sounds and highlights of US Open 2022 Round 1

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BROOKLINE, Mass. — Perhaps the conversation about LIV Golf vs. the PGA Tour quiets down for a few days, with the official start of the US Open at The Country Club here. Or, at least, until Phil Mickelson returns to the field on Friday. Mickelson, the face of LIV Golf, is still searching for the missing piece on his Grand Slam resume: a victory at the US Open.

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During the first round, two kids ran away with defending champion Jon Rahm’s ball on the 18th hole. Rahm free-falled into the hole as the kids snagged a souvenir.

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Adam Hadwin was leading by 1 at the end of the first day with 4 under par. Rory McIlroy is part of a group that is chasing him at 3 under, while Phil Mickelson struggled a lot and is near the bottom of the leaderboard at 8 up.

Here’s a look back at the sights and sounds of the first day.

LIV almost really meant 54 (more)

The 15 LIV Golf players on the course this week, for the most part, struggled during the first round of the US Open. How bad was it? They almost combined to shoot his name.

LIV, in Roman numerals, is 54.

The 15 LIV players put up a running total Thursday of 53-plus. Dustin Johnson (2 bass) and James Piot 1 (bass) were the only ones among the group to break 70. Jed Morgan had the worst day, going 12 over 82. Mickelson wasn’t much better, shooting 78. Louis Oosthuizen, who was playing with Mickelson, came around in ’77.

Dustin Johnson: 68
Jaime Piot: 69
Shawn Norris: 70
patrick cane: 70
Richard Bland: 70
Bryson DeChambeau 71
Sam Horfield: 73
Sergio Garcia: 74
Talor Gooch: 74
Kevin Na: 75
Jinichiro Kozuma: 76
Grace Branden: 76
Luis Oosthuizen: 77
Phil Mickelson: 78
Jed Morgan: 82

Not a good start for Mickelson

After making the turn at 5 over 40, Mickelson had a bogey on the par 4 10 to move to 6 over. He eventually birdied the par 3 11th hole with an 8-foot putt. But then things really got away from Lefty. He double-bogeyed the 12th hole after hitting his tee shot into the deep rough on the right. He needed two shots to get back on the fairway and ended up making a double bogey 6 to drop to 7 on top. –Mark Schlabach

Phil Mickelson made four puts on the par-3 6th hole after landing his tee shot on the green about 15 feet from the hole. After missing a potential birdie putt, Mickelson pushed the par putt past the hole and missed the return putt by bogey.

“Wow,” he said to himself when the third putt failed to find the hole.

Mickelson has yet to make a birdie and sits at 5 plus after six holes. –Paolo Uggetti

Koepka’s first work

Two-time US Open champion Brooks Koepka touched them all on the 15th hole.

With 205 yards to go after hitting his tee shot down the middle of the fairway, Koepka missed his approach shot to left. His ball flew into the stands and bounced before stopping.

After freefalling at the base of the grandstand, Koepka jumped about 9 feet and putted for par. He was 2 more after seven holes. — Mark Schlabach

Club throwing up to the top

After catching fire in the second half of his round and hitting 4-under, Rory McIlroy attempted to pin the par-4 9 but missed long and straight. He had backfired twice and switched clubs beforehand. When he saw it land, McIlroy immediately flung the club at him. When he got to the green, he kept pointing to the left, gesturing how much room he had and put it there. Frustration moved through his bogey putt. As he waited for Hideki Matsuyama to finish, McIlroy lowered his white hat over his face. Still, his round of three under par was good to tie for the lead.

Earlier in his round, with the crowd already four and five deep around the 18th green, McIlroy received a slight roar Thursday when he drained a 16-foot birdie putt to move to 2-under and 1-shot from the lead. . The 2011 US Open champion started on the 10th tee early Thursday morning and is coming off a thrilling win at the RBC Canadian Open last week, as well as two top-10 finishes at the two majors. of this year.

“It’s been eight years since I’ve won a major, and I just want to get my hands on one again,” McIlroy said after the round.

He’s trying to win a major the week after winning a PGA Tour event, after claiming the RBC Canadian Open last week. The last player to do it? McIlroy. He won the 2014 PGA Championship the week after winning WGC-Bridgestone. No player has ever won the US Open after winning on the PGA Tour the week before. The closest to doing so was Arnold Palmer, who tied for second in 1963, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.

— Uggetti and Schlabach

turkeys on the course

Backyard Battles!

A close ace!

Justin Rose, the 2013 US Open winner, had a great opportunity to start his round.

Where is the after party?

After shooting 3-under, Joel Dahmen held onto a chunk of the lead as his first round ended. He has never finished higher than 10th in a major before, so he may be nervous and take it easy before the second round.

It doesn’t sound like that.

Ben Rector is a Nashville-based pop singer-songwriter who has released seven studio albums.

golf can be cruel

Golf is difficult, even for the best players in the world. Chances are most players will hit a slump at this week’s US Open, which is considered to be golf’s toughest test.

McIlroy found that out on the par-4 fifth hole at The Country Club on Thursday. After driving his tee shot to the right, his ball ended up in the thick grass over a bunker. His feet were way under the ball, so he managed to hit it only about 10 yards, into another fairway bunker. He savagely slammed his club twice into the sand.

Surprisingly, McIlroy was able to get up and down the sand to save the pair. –Schlabach

This is Matt McCarty’s birdie attempt on the fifth hole. I thought the blocked shots in the Boston area would come later on Thursday.

Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, had this shot that scored just three yards. However, he saved par in the hole.

LIV Golf is not far

LIV Golf made sure to get the message across that even though this isn’t your event, your guys are still here.

early birdies

Reigning champion Jon Rahm is one of the golfers to get out early, along with Max Homa, former Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth and two-time major winner Collin Morikawa.

There is more than golf here

Sure, New England fans are here to watch golf. But forgive them if they are a little distracted. Something else is on their minds, about 7.2 miles down the road.

The Boston Celtics hope to keep their NBA title hopes alive on Thursday in Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors. (9 p.m. ET on ABC). The Celtics are down 3-2 in the series.

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