Shinnecock getting best of many of finest players
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Jordan Spieth sailed a bunker shot clear over the green just after 8 a.m. on his second hole of the day, leading to an early triple bogey that immediately had everyone in attendance buzzing with astonishment and foreshadowing what was in store for many of the finest championship-caliber golfers in the world.
About five hours later, Tiger Woods similarly kicked off the primetime portion of the afternoon session at the 118th edition of the U.S. Open with a gasp-inducing seven on No.1 for an immediate triple bogey of his own, the first time in his legendary career that Tiger has stood at three over par after a single hole at this event.
In fact, both Spieth and Woods, two of golf’s brightest attractions, were four strokes north of breakeven through two holes, and each one carded an eye-opening 78 for the first round.
Yet they still somehow weren’t the only — or even the worst — offenders among the boldfaced names to be bludgeoned by the whirling winds, the ball-engulfing fescue and the ever-unforgiving greens of the giant killer known as Shinnecock Hills Golf Club on Thursday in Southampton.
“I think everybody is going to struggle here,” was Phil Mickelson’s brief but blunt assessment soon after completing his opening-round score of 77.
Lefty essentially had surmised earlier in the week that you can’t win a major tournament on a Thursday, but you certainly can lose one. And the clear-cut winner for openers unquestionably was the demanding par-70 track, taking down one big name after another all afternoon and even sending one lesser-known player Jordan Spieth, left, grimaces after playing his shot from the sixth tee as Phil Mickelson watches during the first round of the U.S. Open. He finished the round with a 78. – 23-year-old Scott Gregory out of England – into Sunday-duffer territory with an “I-could-have-done-that” total of 92.
Fourteen years after the USGA deservedly had absorbed major heat for its mishandling of dried-out greens among a multitude of issues here in 2004, Shinnecock surely looks as imposing as ever, despite the widening of several fairways and other cosmetic changes made ahead of the tour’s return to eastern Long Island, the fifth time overall the exclusive club has hosted the Open since 1896.
Sure, Dustin Johnson backed up his regained No.1 world ranking and jumped to an early four-way share of the lead at one-under par, even holing out a bunker shot on No.8 while playing in the marquee afternoon group with Woods and Justin Thomas.
“I felt like the USGA did a great job with the setup. I felt like it was fair. It was hard, but it was fair,” Johnson said. “There wasn’t anything tricky or unreasonable, by any means.”
That’s easy for him to day. Still, the rough was so thick and unrelenting that Johnson was among several golfers to encounter serious difficulty finding their ball without help from tournament volunteers, and in a few cases, their playing partners.
Johnson’s search party at one point featured nearly 30 people, including Tiger, when his tee shot on No. 6 sailed into the thicket to the left of the fairway. After several minutes, a member of the television crew found the ball by accidentally stepping on it, enabling Johnson a drop without penalty. If Johnson had stepped on the ball himself, it would have been a one-stroke infraction.
As for the gruesome carnage throughout the leaderboard, the anticipated, starstudded pairing of Mickelson, Spieth and Rory McIlroy saw their respective games positively demolished and devoured by mighty Shinnecock from the outset. The lofty trio, with 12 major championships between them, combined to shoot an unfathomable 25-over par, most notably a cringe-worthy 80 for McIlroy, a four-time winner in the majors.
The Northern Irishman was so flustered that he didn’t even stick around to address the media afterward, nor did 2015 PGA champ Jason Day, who carded a 79.
Mickelson certainly didn’t open his latest bid to complete his career Grand Slam in encouraging fashion, even if he departed the links with the best score of his trio at seven-over.
Bubba Watson, the two-time Masters champ, matched Lefty’s output, while Spieth, owner of three major trophies already at 24, finished a stroke below, his worst registered score ever in a major tournament.
And Tiger rebounded from his plus-4 after two holes to play even-par golf over the next10, only to card consecutive double bogeys midway through the back nine, including a disastrous four-putt on No. 13, to also finish with a 78. Hardly the start he was looking for in his quest for his first major title since winning the Open a decade ago.
“We thought there were probably close to seven to nine birdie-able holes out there. With the wind blowing, that changed dramatically,” Woods said. “And also where they put some of these pins, you just can’t get to them. It was pretty evident.
“Nobody was making any birdies in the mornings. Lots and lots of bogeys and higher in others. My game plan was not to make any others – I made three of them.”
Added Spieth: “There were certainly some dicey pins, but at the same time there were guys that shot under par. So I could have played better. All in all, it was just very difficult to control the ball off the tee, get it where you want it to in this wind. I thought that if I shot even on the back nine, stayed at four-over, I was very much in the golf tournament. Hopefully, better tomorrow.”
Indeed, even at 78, Spieth and Woods somehow are within nine strokes of the lead heading into today. If only their most formidable foe, unrelenting Shinnecock, would cooperate.