Thomas takes US Open lead with 65 on soft, kind Winged Foot
MAMARONECK, N.Y. ( AP) — This wasn’t the kind of fun Justin Thomas had in mind for a U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
For all the hype and history of how much punishment Winged Foot has doled out over the years. Thomas took advantage of a surprising soft and gentle Thursday morning with a 5-under 65, the lowest score in six U. S. Opens on this tough Tillinghast design.
And all that got him was a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed among early starters, with Rory McIlroy another shot behind and starting to swing freely.
Thomas went into the week saying it was a “different kind of fun” to grind over pars, to hit middle irons to difficult pins instead of the low scoring at so many other tournaments. He delivered six birdies and finished with a 25-footer on the 18th on a putt he barely moved to get it started down one of the many wicked slopes on Winged Foot’s greens.
“Yeah, 65 is fun no matter where you play, especially at Winged Foot,” Thomas said. “I was in a really good frame of mind, and I was focused. I just was sticking to my routine and playing every shot, as opposed to getting ahead of myself. It’s one of those rounds where ... next thing you know, you make the putt on 18, you’re done for the day.”
He played with Masters champion Tiger Woods and PGA champion Collin
Morikawa, who couldn’t get done fast enough.
Woods was in five bunkers through five holes and then appeared to steady himself with three straight birdies around the turn to get under par, but only briefly. He made three bogeys coming in, still had a chance to post a reasonable score and then let it get away.
From short of the steep shelf fronting the 18th green, he flubbed a flop shot, pitched the next one about 8 feet beyond the pin and missed the putt to take double bogey for a73.
“I did not finish off the round like I needed to,” Woods said, a feeling he conveyed five more times out of the six questions he faced after his round.