Southampton (United States) (AFP) – Rory McIlroy birdied two of his first three holes on Thursday to seize the early lead of the fog-hit US Open, while top-ranked Scottie Scheffler parred to begin his bid for a career Grand Slam. Both stars eventually made morning starts at Shinnecock after the first round was halted for two hours due to heavy fog, meaning that it is unlikely that it will be completed by sunset.
World number two McIlroy sank a tap-in par putt at the 10th hole, made an 11-foot (3.3m) birdie putt at the par-three 11th, and added a 25-foot birdie putt at the 12th to seize the lead on two-under. Scheffler sank a three-footer for par at the first. A field of 156 chased a record top prize of $4.5 million from a record $22.5 million purse.
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Northern Ireland’s 46-year-old Graeme McDowell briefly shared the early lead. The 2010 US Open champion rolled in a 24-foot birdie putt at the 10th and sank a birdie putt at the par-three 11th from just inside nine feet but took a bogey at 13 after needing two shots to escape the left rough.
“Probably a little awkward in the morning because you’re up so early and I just want to go back to bed,” three-time major winner Padraig Harrington of Ireland, the oldest player at 54, said of the delay. “The wind has tamped down. We would actually love to play even if I couldn’t see where the ball is going. We just want to get out there. Everybody is anxious to get going and see what happens.”
The wind picked up, however, to help clear the fog and provide players with a major challenge over the 7,440-yard (6,800m) Long Island layout, where organizers kept green speeds below maximum and planned to water greens between waves to help the balls stay on the putting surfaces amid the gusting breezes. Brutal winds and high green speeds had groundskeepers watering greens between groups at the 2004 and 2018 US Opens at Shinnecock in a bid to keep the course playable, with many complaining that organizers had “lost the course.”
Top-ranked Scheffler, a two-time Masters winner, captured last year’s British Open and PGA Championship to give himself a first chance at the career Slam at Shinnecock on Sunday, his 30th birthday. The American, who has four top-seven US Open finishes in the past five years, won his January season opener in the California desert. Three runner-up efforts since then included the Masters, where second-ranked McIlroy defended his title after completing his career Slam last year.
McIlroy, a six-time major winner from Northern Ireland, whose only US Open title in 2011 at Congressional was his first major success, has finished in the top 10 at the US Open in six of the past seven years, with runner-up efforts in 2023 and 2024. Australian Adam Scott, the 2013 Masters winner, made his 100th consecutive major start in the group just ahead of Scheffler’s trio.
© 2024 AFP
