No carnage, no heartbreak at Chambers Bay. In truth, as the 115th edition of the US Open got off to a slow, slow start – with first rounds stretching to six hours and beyond – there could be heard a collective sigh of relief from players to go with the comings and goings of the freight train that regularly worked its way up and down Puget Sound.
Perhaps it was a conservative opening offering from the USGA, the guardians of the championship, but the upshot was a challenge, aided and abetted by just a gentle wind, that was very honest: Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson took full advantage, opening with respective 65s, five-under-par, to assume the early clubhouse lead.
Before a shot had been struck in anger, the grounds crew – all 170 of them – had applied copious amounts of water to the fairways and putting greens to take some of the fire out of the course and the greens started out running at a very manageable 11 on the stimpmeter. All in all, it was a gentle start that did much to defray the concerns of players.
If such largesse from the USGA was seen as a gift, it was Johnson – despite a late stumble that saw him bogey the ninth, his closing hole – and Stenson, who ran off a hat-trick of birdies from the 14th to the 16th and also birdied the 18th, who took most advantage.
For world number one Rory McIlroy, though, it proved to be a frustrating day with the putter in hand. For the most part, McIlroy drove the ball well and, if there were times it seemed as if bunkers had been strategically positioned just to thwart him, his general play from tee-to-green was only undone by a cold putter. In the end, the Northern Irishman signed for an opening 72, two-over, which was probably the worst score he could have contrived to take.
“I played well tee to green. I thought the course was set up fair. A score in the mid-60s was out there, as you can see with Dustin and Henrik. I thought you could be aggressive here. It is not a game of chess. I just did not putt well enough,” said McIlroy.
He added: “I hit my irons well. You are going to hit to 20-25 feet a lot here, I just didn’t take my chances when they came. It was a couple of misreads and a couple of bad strokes. When you lose the line you stop trusting yourself. I’ll just go to the practice green and see if I can figure everything out.”
Graeme McDowell struggled to an opening 74. “I struggled with my approach irons,” admitted McDowell, typified by a double-bogey on his opening hole, the 10th, where he pushed his approach into a greenside bunker and then got a bad break with the lie in the sand.
McIlroy wasn’t alone in looking back on what might have been, for Patrick Reed too left some chances behind him. Still, Reed signed for a 66 that left him just a stroke off the early pace established by Johnson and Stenson, while Matt Kuchar’s 67 was confirmation that it wasn’t only a course built for bombers. Kuchar plotted his way around with a diligence and a conservative gameplan.
Johnson’s gameplan was, for the most part, an aggressive one – even if, on the par-five eighth, his penultimate hole, he took a rare (for him) decision to err on the side of caution by laying up. That conservatism backfired, when he duffed his third shot and then had to show his ingenuity with an up-and-down, using the bank to allow him run the ball down to the green, to save par.
On the ninth, a par three where the lower tee box was used, Johnson suffered a bogey after his tee shot found the cluster of bunkering short of the green. Again, he showed great creativity with this recovery, using every nook and cranny off the green and then on it, to run the ball to 15 feet but he missed the par saving putt.
In all, Johnson missed just three fairways – giving an exhibition with the driver – and wasn’t too downhearted with a finish that took just a little gloss off what might have unfolded. At one point, he looked set to break the low record of 63s set at Baltusrol in 1980 by Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf.
“I really liked it. The first time I played I thought it was great. I still like it. It’s definitely an interesting golf course. But I thought it was a lot of fun to play. And I really enjoyed it today, too,” said Johnson.
“I like using my imagination on shots. It’s always fun to play courses that are different than what you play every day. I just enjoy playing here. I enjoy playing over at the British (Open). It’s golf that I really like to play,” he added.
In putting his words into action, Johnson – seeking a first Major title – took a position beside Stenson at the front of the action.
