Big bully Winged Foot turns into an old softie
Thomas leads assault on the course with a 65, with 20 others finishing under par.
Its brutality had long ago been established as lore — its fearsome greens, slender fairways and verdant, unrelenting rough the stuff of nightmares.
When Winged Foot Golf Club last hosted the U.S. Open 14 years ago, the storied New York course brought an entire field of golfers to its knees, sent a surging Phil Mickelson into a final-hole spiral, and crowned a champion, Geoff Ogilvy, who shot five over par. Thirty-two years before that, in a tournament later described as “The Massacre at Winged Foot,” Hale Irwin outlasted the field at seven over.
The specter of that formidable history left even the best golfers in the world wary ahead of this year’s 120th U.S. Open, held this week again at the merciless West course. Some wondered aloud if, for the fifth time in six tries, Winged Foot’s Open champion might not break par.
But after one round, it seems they had little to fear.
Twenty-one golfers turned in scores under par Thursday, defying the course’s lore with an unprecedented day of scoring marked by soft greens and generous conditions. Over the five previous U.S. Opens held at Winged Foot, only 19 combined had managed to finish the first round under par. None have ever turned in a Thursday score on this course as low as Justin Thomas. The third-ranked player in the world, Thomas shot a five-under 65 in a nearly spotless round that saw him hit nine of 14 fairways and card just a single bogey on a course otherwise unyielding to such precision.
Record-setting afternoon aside, he wasn’t about to make any sweeping proclamations about the 97-yearold course. Not with 54 holes still remaining. Not with six of the world’s other top-10 golfers below par, close behind.
“It’s still Winged Foot,” Thomas said. “You’ve still got to hit the shots. That kind of was my game plan going into the week is that, yeah, I need to respect the course, but if I’m driving it well and playing well, I do need to try to make some birdies, and that’s exactly what we did today.”
There were plenty of birdies Thursday, but others still struggled. Tiger Woods, playing with Thomas, finished with a double bogey in a 73. Mickelson birdied the first two holes and shot a 79.
Woods’ 73 might have remained in close contention in any past years at Winged Foot. However, with USGA officials openly concerned about sunlight for a tournament that’s regularly played on Father’s Day, the famous course proved less fearsome than ever before.
Matthew Wolff, a 21-yearold Simi Valley native, took advantage with a four-under 66 and is, along with Patrick Reed and Thomas Pieters, a stroke behind Thomas. Wolff still called the course “one of the hardest” he’s played.
“You have to roll with the punches,” said Wolff, who had five birdies and one bogey. “I just hit the ball really well today.”
Reed delivered perhaps the most memorable shot of the day, one-hopping his tee shot on the 165-yard seventh into the hole. Without the usual roar of a crowd, it took Reed a moment to realize that he’d hit an ace.