The opening round of the U.S. Open has concluded at Los Angeles Country Club Thursday as two players share the lead in heart of the City of Angels.
Hitting fairways were key as those who hit the fescue rough or the barranca, made things more challenging as the round progressed.
Here are four takeaways from the first round of the 123rd U.S. Open.
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Rickie Fowler jumpstarts, shares Thursday lead
One player who has started to turn things back around is Rickie Fowler, who has collected two top-10s at the Charles Schwab Challenge and the Memorial Tournament before coming to his first U.S. Open in two years.
Fowler got going early, starting on the back nine Thursday. Despite a bogey on the par-3 11th and the par-4 17th, two difficult holes on the back nine, Fowler still recorded five birdies for a 3-under back nine.
Then on the front nine, Fowler continued his strong stretch, birdieing four consecutive holes from No. 18 to No. 3. After a couple of pars on hole Nos. 4 and 5, Fowler birdied the par-4 6th and the par-5 8th to have a front nine 5-under 30 for an 8-under 62 for the day and the first of two to be at the top after the first day.
The key for Fowler was his putting, leading the field with 4.87 strokes gained putting and was tied for second with 15 putts.
Fowler’s 62 equals the lowest score in major championship history and first since Brendan Grace recorded a 62 in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship.
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Xander Schauffele gets going, joins Fowler atop the leaderboard
In addition to Fowler posting an 8-under 62, World No. 6 Xander Schauffele also recorded the same score about 20 minutes after Fowler completed his round.
Instead of firing 10 birdies and two bogeys like Fowler, Schauffele went bogey free in his round while also starting on the back nine. Schauffele recorded three of his birdies on the back nine, including his opening hole on the par-4 10th where he made a 38-foot putt for birdie.
On the front nine, Schauffele birdied the first two holes as his approach shot on the par-4 second landed less than four feet away from the hole for a tap-in birdie. Schauffele parred hole No. 3 and 4 before recording birdie on three of his next four holes. On the fifth, the SDSU alum outdid his 38-footer on his opening hole by making a 59-footer for his sixth birdie on the day.
Recording a 65 marked the low round for a major tournament for both Schauffele and Fowler. Thursday marked the fifth time in Fowler’s career and fourth of Schauffele’s career for hitting 65. The last instance of 65 in a major for both Schauffele and Fowler came at the 2021 Open Championship.
While Fowler led the way in strokes gained putting, Schauffele led the field in strokes gained approach, taking off 3.71 shots. He was also third in strokes gained: putting, sixth in greens in regulation and ninth in strokes gained: short game.
3 former U.S. Open champs – DJ, McIlroy and DeChambeau – get inside top 10
Some of the stars playing in the afternoon were able to put some red numbers on the leaderboard.
2016 Champion Dustin Johnson, who started on the back nine, recorded a bogey-free 2-under par score on his first nine holes with back-to-back birdies on holes 14 and 15. Then on the front nine, Johnson recorded five birdies in an eight-hole stretch before a bogey on the ninth to give him a 6-under par score heading into cut day tied for third.
Finishing the day tied for fifth at -5 was Rory McIlroy, who won the 2011 U.S. Open. McIlroy, who began on the front nine, started strong, also recording five birdies in his first eight holes on the front nine. McIlroy led the field in greens in regulation, successfully hitting 16 putting surfaces out of 17. He was also third in strokes gained: off the tee and driving distance.
Also, among the top 10 from the list of former U.S. Open Champions after 18 holes was 2020 champion, Bryson DeChambeau, who was one of seven players to finish at -3, include World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
DeChambeau, who was part of the morning wave, started on the back nine. After a bogey on the par-3 11th, he responded with a couple of birdies on 14 and 15, like Johnson before going back to even par after a bogey on the toughest hole on the course, hole No. 17. The 17th recorded 72 bogeys and was averaging a little more than a half of a stroke over par at 0.526.
The 29-year-old was able to turn things around on the front nine making four birdies, including on both par-5s.
Not one, but two U.S. Open aces
Usually, we see aces in the U.S. Open on the tennis courts of Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, but the gallery at Los Angeles was treated to not one, but two hole-in-ones.
Early in the day, Matthieu Pavon, who plays on the DP World Tour, secured the first ace of the tournament on the short, par-3 15th. Pavon, who entered the 15th at +2, was looking to finish strong on the final four holes before tomorrow.
Pavon landed the ball beyond the 124-yard hole and was able to control his spin and reel it back into the hole for the first ace of the tournament. It was also his first hole in one of his professional career. Pavon was able to get back to even par and currently sits at +1 entering the second round.
Also securing a hole in one on the 15th hole today was Sam Burns. In the middle of a birdie-eagle-birdie stretch, Burns took out his sand wedge and was able to match Pavon by landing the ball beyond the hole and spin back to the bottom of the cup. Although Burns finished with a couple of bogeys on the final two holes, he finished at 1-under and tied for 25th.
It is the third U.S. Open in the last 40 years with multiple aces on the same hole in the same round, also taking place in 1989 and 2020.
U.S. Open: Round 1 Leaderboard
| Position | Player | Score | Round |
| T1 | Rickie Fowler | -8 | 62 |
| Xander Schauffele | -8 | 62 | |
| T3 | Wyndham Clark | -6 | 64 |
| Dustin Johnson | -6 | 64 | |
| T5 | Brian Harman | -5 | 65 |
| Rory McIlroy | -5 | 65 | |
| T7 | Bryson DeChambeau | -3 | 67 |
| Scottie Scheffler | -3 | 67 | |
| Si Woo Kim | -3 | 67 | |
| Paul Barjon | -3 | 67 | |
| Harris English | -3 | 67 | |
| Sam Bennett | -3 | 67 | |
| Mackenzie Hughes | -3 | 67 | |
| T14 | Jacob Solomon | -2 | 68 |
| Dylan Wu | -2 | 68 | |
| Max Homa | -2 | 68 | |
| Ryan Fox | -2 | 68 | |
| Alejandro del Rey | -2 | 68 | |
| Andrew Putnam | -2 | 68 | |
| Joaquinn Niemann | -2 | 68 | |
| Alex Noren | -2 | 68 | |
| Keith Mitchell | -2 | 68 | |
| Tony Finau | -2 | 68 | |
| Sebastian Munoz | -2 | 68 | |
| T25 | Yuto Katsuragawa | -1 | 69 |
| Ryan Gerard | -1 | 69 | |
| Ryo Ishikawa | -1 | 69 | |
| Gordon Sargent (a) | -1 | 69 | |
| Viktor Hovland | -1 | 69 | |
| Jon Rahm | -1 | 69 | |
| Eric Cole | -1 | 69 | |
| Phil Mickelson | -1 | 69 | |
| Cameron Smith | -1 | 69 | |
| Sam Burns | -1 | 69 | |
| Justin Suh | -1 | 69 | |
| Min Woo Lee | -1 | 69 | |
| David Puig | -1 | 69 | |
| T38 | Jordan Smith | E | 70 |
| Lucas Herbert | E | 70 | |
| Sergio Garcia | E | 70 | |
| Sepp Straka | E | 70 | |
| Gary Woodland | E | 70 | |
| Corey Conners | E | 70 | |
| Adam Hadwin | E | 70 | |
| Stewart Cink | E | 70 | |
| Mac Meissner | E | 70 | |
| Andrew Svoboda | E | 70 | |
| Vincent Norrman | E | 70 | |
| Nick Hardy | E | 70 | |
| Thriston Lawrence | E | 70 | |
| Aldrich Potgieter (a) | E | 70 | |
| Abraham Ancer | E | 70 | |
| Adrian Meronk | E | 70 | |
| Ben Carr (a) | E | 70 | |
| Patrick Cover | E | 70 | |
| T56 | Omar Morales (a) | +1 | 71 |
| Ryutaro Nagano | +1 | 71 | |
| Pablo Larrazabal | +1 | 71 | |
| Adam Svensson | +1 | 71 | |
| Scott Stallings | +1 | 71 | |
| Patrick Rodgers | +1 | 71 | |
| Matthieu Pavon | +1 | 71 | |
| Thomas Pieters | +1 | 71 | |
| Sungjae Im | +1 | 71 | |
| Collin Morikawa | +1 | 71 | |
| Denny McCarthy | +1 | 71 | |
| Barclay Brown (a) | +1 | 71 | |
| Charley Hoffman | +1 | 71 | |
| Simon Forsstrom | +1 | 71 | |
| Maxwell Moldovan (a) | +1 | 71 | |
| Romain Langasque | +1 | 71 | |
| Austin Eckroat | +1 | 71 | |
| Mito Pereira | +1 | 71 | |
| Russell Henley | +1 | 71 | |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | +1 | 71 | |
| Chris Kirk | +1 | 71 | |
| Patrick Cantlay | +1 | 71 | |
| Brooks Koepka | +1 | 71 | |
| Taylor Montgomery | +1 | 71 | |
| Taylor Moore | +1 | 71 | |
| Corey Pereira | +1 | 71 | |
| J.J. Grey | +1 | 71 | |
| T83 | Kevin Streelman | +2 | 72 |
| Cam Davis | +2 | 72 | |
| Brent Grant | +2 | 72 | |
| Jordan Gumberg | +2 | 72 | |
| Francesco Molinari | +2 | 72 | |
| Matt Kuchar | +2 | 72 | |
| Nick Taylor | +2 | 72 | |
| Nico Echavarria | +2 | 72 | |
| Deon Germishuys | +2 | 72 | |
| Cameron Young | +2 | 72 | |
| Keegan Bradley | +2 | 72 | |
| Shane Lowry | +2 | 72 | |
| Davis Thompson | +2 | 72 | |
| Wenyi Ding (a) | +2 | 72 | |
| Christian Cavaliere (a) | +2 | 72 | |
| Jordan Spieth | +2 | 72 | |
| Patrick Reed | +2 | 72 | |
| Hideki Matsuyama | +2 | 72 | |
| Seamus Power | +2 | 72 | |
| Tom Hoge | +2 | 72 | |
| Roger Sloan | +2 | 72 | |
| Jesse Schutte | +2 | 72 | |
| Austen Truslow | +2 | 72 | |
| Taylor Pendrith | +2 | 72 | |
| T107 | Billy Horschel | +3 | 73 |
| Jason Day | +3 | 73 | |
| Padraig Harrington | +3 | 73 | |
| Ross Fisher | +3 | 73 | |
| Martin Kaymer | +3 | 73 | |
| Adam Scott | +3 | 73 | |
| Preston Summerhays (a) | +3 | 73 | |
| David Nyfjall (a) | +3 | 73 | |
| Tom Kim | +3 | 73 | |
| Justin Thomas | +3 | 73 | |
| Matthew McClean (a) | +3 | 73 | |
| Bastien Amat (a) | +3 | 73 | |
| Tommy Fleetwood | +3 | 73 | |
| Paul Haley II | +3 | 73 | |
| Gunn Charoenkul | +3 | 73 | |
| K.H. Lee | +3 | 73 | |
| T123 | J.T. Poston | +4 | 74 |
| Sahith Theegala | +4 | 74 | |
| Carson Young | +4 | 74 | |
| Ryan Armour | +4 | 74 | |
| Berry Henson | +4 | 74 | |
| Michael Thorbjornsen (a) | +4 | 74 | |
| Michael Brennan (a) | +4 | 74 | |
| Mateo Fernandez de Oliveira (a) | +4 | 74 | |
| Karl Vilips (a) | +4 | 74 | |
| Tyrrell Hatton | +4 | 74 | |
| Emiliano Grillo | +4 | 74 | |
| Jens Dantorp | +4 | 74 | |
| Joel Dahmen | +4 | 74 | |
| Michael Kim | +4 | 74 | |
| T137 | Kurt Kitayama | +5 | 75 |
| Adam Schenk | +5 | 75 | |
| Luke List | +5 | 75 | |
| Wilco Nienaber | +5 | 75 | |
| Sam Stevens | +5 | 75 | |
| Olin Browne, Jr. | +5 | 75 | |
| T143 | Kyle Patrick Mueller | +6 | 76 |
| Victor Perez | +6 | 76 | |
| Carlos Ortiz | +6 | 76 | |
| Justin Rose | +6 | 76 | |
| T147 | Hank Lebioda | +7 | 77 |
| David Horsey | +7 | 77 | |
| Alex Schaake | +7 | 77 | |
| Hayden Buckley | +7 | 77 | |
| Nicholas Dunlap (a) | +7 | 77 | |
| Isaac Simmons (a) | +7 | 77 | |
| T153 | Frnakie Capan III | +8 | 78 |
| Brendan Valdes (a) | +8 | 78 | |
| T155 | Aaron Wise | +9 | 79 |
| Alexander Yang | +9 | 79 |