Thomas takes lead after first day of U.S. Open
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — All that hype over how tough the U.S. Open can be at Winged Foot. All that history of so many scores over par.
Thursday brought a surprise: All those red numbers.
Justin Thomas led the way with six birdies and only one bogey from a bad lie in the bunker, finishing with a 25-foot birdie putt that he barely touched for a 5-under 65.
It was the lowest score in a U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which is hosting the Open for the sixth time dating to 1929. And it was worth only a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed, Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Matthew Wolff, the 21-year-old Californian making his U.S. Open debut.
Rory Mcilroy, who has been struggling to get off to a decent start in the majors, opened with a 67 and tried to contain his disappointment it wasn’t lower. He had a pair of three-putts that held him back, one on the 329-yard sixth where he hit driver onto the middle of the green and had to settle for par.
Mcilroy was among those two shots behind on a scoreboard filled with red numbers, an unusual site for Winged Foot. In the previous five U.S. Opens, a total of 17 players were under par after the first round. On Thursday, there were 21.
No one believes it will stay that way. Still, this was the day to take advantage.
“It’s helpful with three days left, but it’s not even remotely close to being over,” Thomas said of his best start in a U.S Open or any major. “As great of a round and fun as it was, it’s over with now, and I need to get over it.”
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.
This was fun, too.
Patrick Reed and Will
fifth to score three times on four errors and get the game tied at 4-4.
Starkville Academy responded with the bat in the fifth with four more hits and put up a five-spot. Arden Parker had an RBI triple and Williams drove in another run with a ground out.
Williams, Hughes and Fallon Parker had two singles each to fuel the 11-hit attack for the Lady Vols.
It would have been senior night for Austin Tucker, but she was ill and was not able to attend the game.
With Tucker on the mind of the Lady Vols, Berryhill thought that may have contributed to the sluggish start.
“It’s the last home game we’ve got,” Berryhill said. “It’s senior night and our senior is sick. We hope for the best for her right now, hope she gets back as soon as she can and hope the medication helps her out.
“That’s not an excuse. At the same time, if you come to play, you come to play. We were sluggish at the start, then we create a little chaos with the bunt and running, put a little pressure on them and took the lead. We go out and return the favor by throwing it around a little bit, but we were mentally tough enough to bounce right back and created a big inning with the five-spot, so I give the girls credit for not quitting. We didn’t quit.”
As far as the Lady Eagles, Paityn Fulgham and Aubrey Eaton had one single each for the offense.
Hebron head softball coach Rease Gairhan was pleased with the way his team played defensively considering the amount of young at key positions in the stretch of the season.
“We made some plays that we haven’t been able to get to in the past,” Gairhan said. “You let a few still fall here and there. We have six still injured, so we have some young players playing in positions and have a senior catching for the first time. We’re competing when we can. We’ve just got to swing the bat a little bit better.”
The Lady Eagles now look to the postseason in a few days.
Starkville Academy (11-8) will wrap up the regular season by playing district opponent Leake Academy on the road Tuesday, then it will be on to the North State playoffs.