Rory McIlroy sent in his 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Thursday and began walking toward the cup while the ball was still about 6 feet from dropping. It looked like the move of a four-time major champion taking control of his game on the Pinehurst No. 2 course, which demanded every moment at the U.S. Open.
Turns out that was the only thing that didn’t go according to plan.
“I thought I left it short. So I went after it – full information,” McIlroy said. “It felt good though.”
He looked as good as ever, playing a bogey-free opening round in a major for the first time since winning the British Open 10 years ago. His 5-under 65 gave him the lead over opponent Patrick Cantlay in a first-round match that had a little bit of everything.
Scottie Scheffler was over par in the opening round of a major for the first time in two years, Collin Morikawa made two double bogeys and still shot 70. Tyrrell Hatton dropped his club on the par-3 17th hole, kicked his club, watched it fall on the green and made birdie.
The finishing touch was McIlroy’s final birdie.
“The way I played today, the way I hit the ball, the way I carried myself, I felt the score was pretty fair.”
Cantlay, playing in bright morning sunshine, holed out from a bunker for birdie on his second hole and made two birdie putts from 20 feet in range but otherwise had a solid round, marred only by a bogey.
Pinehurst No. 2 was both playable and tough, with a round of 15 under par, the same as the last time Donald Ross played at the gem in 2014.
Scheffler was having none of that. The world No. 1, fresh off his fifth victory of the year at the Memorial, was the picture of frustration – clean-shaven and with a new haircut – as he was unable to maintain his usual control off the tee.
He still managed to score 71 runs and remained in the game throughout.
Tiger Woods can’t say the same. After a good start, he made five bogeys in a seven-hole stretch around the turn and shot 74, his 12th consecutive round in a major in which he didn’t break par.
McIlroy was in control from the start, hitting a 6-iron to 7 feet on the 528-yard fourth hole — the toughest par 4 on the course — for birdie, and then chipping in from the front of the green on the next hole.
He has the advantage of lofty iron shots that land softly, and they are usually pin-high and away from the vaulted edges of the Pinehurst greens that cause so much trouble.
McIlroy has won the last three majors when he began with a bogey-free round — the 2014 British Open at Hoylake, the 2012 PGA Championship at Kiawah Island and the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional.
“It’s important to keep yourself up to get a good start because you have to give yourself as big a support as possible, knowing what’s lurking around the corner,” McIlroy said.
Ludwig Aberg hit a tee shot from 6 feet on the scary par-3 ninth hole in his US Open debut and went on to birdie and shoot a 66. Every major is something new for the rising star from Sweden, who turned pro just a year ago. He was runner-up at the Masters.
Bryson DeChambeau, who finished runner-up at Valhalla in last month’s PGA Championship, and Mathieu Pavon of France are tied for 67th.
Sergio Garcia, playing for the 25th time in a row at the US Open, had a second bogey-free round – 17 pars and one birdie. He also played in the morning and did not seem particularly concerned by Cantlay’s 65. That matches the low opening round in four US Opens at Pinehurst No. 2.
“There’s always going to be a guy who hits the ball really well, everything goes his way, he makes some bombs and you can shoot that,” Garcia said. “You can see someone else shoot 66 or 65 or something like that. I think as the course gets firmer, faster, a little breeze here and there, it’s going to be harder to make those scores.”
It should be no surprise to see Cantlay compete, as he has no real weaknesses in his game except for his performance in the majors. Only four of his 26 major starts since returning from a serious back injury in 2017 have featured top 10 finishes, and only one has been a realistic chance to win.
McIlroy and Cantlay never got along while on the PGA Tour board as it tried to broker a deal with Liv Golf’s Saudi backers, and McIlroy lost a tense fourball match in Rome last year when Cantlay holed a 45-foot putt at the end.
Cantlay watched his best friend in golf — Xander Schauffele, who opened with a 70 at Pinehurst — finally win a major last month. His start was enough to at least make him wonder if his time had come.
“I’ve been working really hard on my game,” Cantlay said. “And usually when you make some changes and work really hard, it’s just a matter of time.”
Cantlay is not known for speaking out too much on many topics, especially when it comes to his performance in golf’s most important championships. He has also dismissed the notion that his time on the PGA Tour board during the split with LIV Golf has been a distraction.
Anyway, it was a good day of work.
But it was still a test, and some of the scores indicated that. Viktor Hovland had to make a tough par at the end for a 78. Justin Thomas had a 77 and Will Zalatoris, who usually thrives in majors, was at 75. Dustin Johnson joined the group at 74.
Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka was leading the way and holed a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-5 10th to get to 3 under in the morning. He made three bogeys and had to settle for 70.
Collin Morikawa, who played in the final group in the year’s first two majors, hit a nice bunker shot on the par-3 ninth that rolled 2 feet from the cup and then hit the slope and stopped 80 feet away, making double bogey. He took another double bogey on the par-3 15th and still got a score of 70 by holing a bunker shot for birdie on the par-3 17th and finishing with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
“Hit two bad shots and one bad bunker shot. On the par 9, it wasn’t that bad,” he said. “But other than that, I thought I played pretty well. Very, very happy that I came out with even par after today.”
