Fowler on fire with seven-birdie 65 opener
Rickie Fowler made light of the longest course in major championship history with a “stress-free” and recordequalling start to the US Open.
Erin Hills had been set up to play to 7,845 yards in the first round, surpassing the record set at Chambers Bay in 2015 by 150 yards, but a combination of wide fairways and a course softened by thunderstorms earlier in the week helped Fowler card seven birdies in a flawless opening 65.
That equalled the lowest score in relation to par in the first round of a US Open, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf having both shot 63 in the first round on the par-70 layout at Baltusrol in 1980.
“It’s always cool to be part of some sort of history in golf, but I’d rather be remembered for something that’s done on Sunday,” said Fowler, who finished in the top five in all four majors in 2014 but has yet to win one of the game’s biggest prizes.
“I didn’t see seven under at the start of the week, but today is the best we are going to get. I just kept making putts when it mattered.
“It was nice. You don’t get many rounds at the US Open that are stress-free. I knew I needed to drive it well and from there was just able to manage hitting and continuing to swing well and hitting good shots and rolling a couple in.”
Fowler, who was 25 over par for his previous four rounds in the US Open, started from the 10th and birdied the 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th to reach the turn in 32, before picking up further shots on the first, second and seventh.
That left the 28-year-old two shots clear of compatriots Brian Harman and Brooks Koepka and England’s Tommy Fleetwood, with Ryder Cup star Patrick Reed on four under.
Lee Westwood, who is seeking his first major title at the 77th attempt, was a shot further back, but defending champion and world No 1 Dustin Johnson struggled to a three-over-par 75.
Rory McIlroy, who said players might as well “pack your bags and go home,’’ if they could not hit the wide fairways, saw those words come back to haunt him as he tangled several times with the thick rough and struggled to one over par after 11 holes.
Fleetwood has made the cut in just one of his seven major appearances to date, but the 26-year-old from Southport made an ideal start with a birdie on his opening hole and added four more in a brilliant putting display.
“”The course was as receptive as it’s going to be but I never really tried to make a birdie, they just seemed to happen along the way,” said Fleetwood, who finished second behind Johnson in the WGC-Mexico Championship earlier this season and lost in a play-off in the Shenzhen International in April.
“But towards the end I holed some great putts for par. No matter how fast you start or how many birdies you make the pars are the ones that keep you in it.”
Asked if he would have taken a 67 at the start of the day, Fleetwood added: “That would have been fine. You don’t really think about shooting five under at the US Open. Seven under is ridiculous.”
Westwood’s 69 was just the third time the former world No 1 has broken 70 in the first round of the US Open.
“I played great,” said the 44-year-old. “I missed one fairway, one green and that was the double bogey. My ball-striking is really coming back to its best now and if I keep going then there’s no reason I can’t be in contention. There’s plenty of room out there, plenty of opportunities. I think it’s very fair.”