The 124th U.S. Open is underway at Pinehurst No. 2 in, well, Pinehurst, North Carolina.
From the jump, the field will be chasing world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is on a heater not seen since Tiger Woods’ heyday. Scheffler tees off in the afternoon wave (1:24 p.m. ET to be exact) along with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. By then, they’ll have a good idea of how difficult the course is playing.
And it is playing tough, with a lot more players over par than under.
Brooks Koepka, who’s won this tournament twice, is making an early run for a third.
If you’re looking for tee times, we have them right here.
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If you want to check out the leaderboard, click here.
And if you want some help following along with the action, follow along below:
Live15 updates
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First nine update
As players begin to make their turns, here’s where we’re at:
– Just 14 of the 78 players on the course are under par; 47 are over par
– Brooks Koepka looks dialed in early, something we’ve seen before.
– Tiger Woods has his putter working. His issue the last few holes has been getting on the green in regulation and giving himself decent opportunities for birdie.
– Not going to happen for Phil Mickelson, again. He’s already 5-over after just seven holes.
– Par is a good score.
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Back-to-back bogeys for Tiger
Facing a 57-footer for birdie, Tiger ran it nine feet by the hole. He burned the edge on his par putt and that’s back-to-back bogeys to move him to 1-over through eight holes.
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Here comes Brooks
Brooks Koepka loves majors. Heard that before? And now he’s atop the leaderboard thanks to a birdie at No. 7. He and Logan McAllister are at 2-under.
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Tiger gives one back
A drive into the rough, a punch out, a less-than-stellar chip to 19 feet led to a bogey for Tiger Woods at 16. (Though he didn’t miss the putt by much.)
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Logjam at the top
Well, we jinxed Aberg, because he just bogeyed to move back to 1-under where … we have a 15-way tie for first!
That includes: Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau and a qualifier by the name of Sergio Garcia.
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Remember Ludvig Aberg
You may not — this U.S. Open is only the third major of his career — but you may recall the 24-year-old Swede finishing second, behind only Scottie Scheffler, at the Masters in April.
Well, after missing the cut at the PGA last month, he’s got it going early with a 2-under round to put himself atop the leaderboard.
Yes, it’s very early in his career, but he’s got the game to win a major.
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Tiger has the putter working early
After spraying his approach into a bunker on 12, Tiger Woods managed to get up-and-down from about 10 feet to save par.
Then at 13, after a perfect drive, he flew the approach over the green, chipped back on to give himself an 8-footer for par and … he drained it again.
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About those greens
When we say “turtleback” greens, here’s what it refers to … a seemingly solid shot to the green, only to be on the wrong side of the swale … and down it goes.
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It’s early but …
With 41 players on the course, we’ve got eight under par (including Tiger Woods, who parred his second), another 16 at even par and 18 over par, including Phil Mickelson, who bogeys the first.
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Tiger birdies
The two biggest things players will have to manage this week are keeping it in the fairways (and out of the sandy “rough”) and manage those difficult greens. After a beautiful drive, Tiger Woods sliced his second at the par-5 10th in the “rough.” His first test came early and … he recovered beautifully.
He curled in a 12-footer for birdie. 1-under. Solid start for Big Cat.
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Isn’t it ironic
Two players are under par … both amateurs. Go figure.
Here comes Tiger Woods …
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And they’re off …
The 124th U.S. Open is officially underway. Already we’re seeing the test that will be Pinehurst No. 2 and its turtleback greens. We’ve got a bogey and double bogey at the first hole in the first threesome. Buckle up.
Source Agencies
