The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Reed takes lead as real Open starts
MAMARONECK, N.Y. » This was the Winged Foot everyone has heard about. This is the U.S. Open everyone expected.
Patrick Reed answered the first big test Sept. 18 when the wind arrived out of the north, bringing a little chill and a lot of trouble. He never got flustered by bogeys and made enough birdie putts and key saves for an even-par 70.
It felt just as rewarding as the 66 he shot in the opening round, and it gave him a one-shot lead over muscleman Bryson DeChambeau, who powered and putted his way to a 68.
The opening round featured soft greens, a few accessible pins and 21 rounds under par. Sept. 18 was the epitome of a major long known as the toughest test in golf. Three players broke par. Nine others shot even par. Everyone else was hanging on for dear life. As the final groups tried to beat darkness in this September U.S. Open, only six players remained in red numbers.
“It’s almost like they set it up to ease our way into it, and then showed us what it’s supposed to really be like,” Reed said.
Television showed his five birdies. What took him to the 36-hole lead at 4-under 136 was a collection of pars from bunkers and from thick grass just over the greens. He managed them all with grit, a common trait among U.S. Open champions.
DeChambeau showed plenty of resiliency, too, bouncing back with birdies after all five of his bogeys and finishing the best round of the day with a pitching wedge on the downwind, 557-yard, par-5 ninth to 6 feet for eagle.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain and Harris English each had a 70 and were at 2-under 138.
They were joined by Justin Thomas, who opened with a 65 — the lowest ever at Winged Foot for a U.S. Open — and lost all those shots to par after 10 holes. Thomas then delivered a 5-wood from 228 yards into the wind on the par-3 third hole and made a slick, 15-foot, double-breaking birdie putt to steady himself. He scratched out a 73 and is right in it.
Jason Kokrak (71) was the only other player under par at 1-under 139.
“This isn’t exactly a place where you go out and try to shoot 6 or 7 under to catch up,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to worry about what everyone else is doing because you could shoot 80 just as easily as you could shoot 68. I just need to stay focused, and most importantly, go home and get some rest. Because I’m pretty tired.”