Erin Hills, Wisconsin: So much for this course being a veritable torture chamber. For Rickie Fowler, the monster of Wisconsin was transformed into a personal pleasuredome as he made a record-equalling start to the US Open.
A seven-under 65 certainly had not been in the script when the circus pulled up here on Monday and saw knee-high fescue rough just five yards off the fairways.
But as Rory McIlroy said, there is a 60-yard mown gap between the cabbage and, if the pros could not handle, it “they may as well pack their bags”.
Well, in contrast, on a day when defending champion Dustin Johnson shot a three-over 75 to stand 10 off the pace, Fowler filled his climbing boots with seven birdies and 11 pars.
Nobody has ever been lower in relation to par after the opening round of the national championships.
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf both shot 63s on the par-70 Baltusrol layout in 1980 and, if this is exclusive company to keep, then there are plenty who believe that the 28-year-old from California is the best player currently operating not to have won a major.
“There are a lot of really good players out here that haven’t won a major,” Fowler said.
“So it would be nice to get rid of that at some point. I’m not saying that this is the week, but I like the way this course suits me and I’m off to a good start.”
On the question of joining Nicklaus and Weiskopf, Fowler remained commendably humble.
“It’s great, but it’s just the first round,” he said.
“It is always cool to be part of some sort of history in golf. But I’d rather be remembered for something that’s done on Sunday.”
There has long been much more to the 2015 Players champion than the garish outfits of his early days, which established him as such a favourite of the galleries.
Under the tutelage of Butch Harmon he has developed into a redoubtable competitor, as proven by his stats sheet.
He missed only two fairways all day and hit 15 greens in regulation. Granted, this 11-year-old layout will not play as benignly again — with the early-week rains extracting the fizz and the morning breezes barely ruffling the visors — but this was still an eight-mile walk and Fowler was remarkably unflustered.
“You don’t get many rounds at the US Open that are stress-free,” Fowler said.
“Just did a good job, knew I needed to drive it well, and from there, [I was] just able to manage hitting and continuing to swing well, rolling a couple in. So, simple when you look back on. A lot easier said than done.”
Two back on five-under are the Americans Brooks Koepka and Brian Harman, as well as Tommy Fleetwood.
The Englishman, playing in just his second US Open, did not anticipate posting five under.
After missing the cut on his Masters debut in April, Fleetwood teed it up here determined to avoid disaster,
“Did I see a 67 here when I got here on Monday? No. But then, I didn’t when I got here this morning and saw the great conditions,” Fleetwood said.
“I didn’t go out there thinking I had to attack the course. I told myself not to do anything stupid and ruin it.” It could be concluded that compiling five birdies and no bogeys in a US Open does, indeed, come under the tag of “anything stupid”, but this is already far from your usual US Open. There was still the potential for personal calamity on this 7,845-yard layout — the longest in major history — as highlighted by Billy Horschel starting with a quadruple nine on his way to a 79 and Danny Willett’s 81. The 2016 Masters champion is in anything but good fettle - the misfiring Yorkshireman looks in need of a break - but the fact that Johnson and Jordan Spieth (73) managed only one birdie between them showed that this was hardly chip-and-putt. It is just that Fowler and the others on top made it seem that way. Lee Westwood’s 69 was only the third time that the world No 1 had broken 70 in 18 appearances at this event. Starting on the 10th, he made five birdies on his first nine, which was marred only by a six on the par-four 12th. The perennial major contender is once again at the business end of the leaderboard. “I played great. Missed one fairway, one green and that was the double bogey,” Westwood said. “My short game was great at Wentworth but my ball-striking is really coming back to its best now and, if I keep going, then there’s no reason I cant be in contention on Sunday.” The 44-year-old has seen it all and was not at all shocked by the low scoring. Yet he had a warning for the field. The Hills have eyes and any complacency will come back to haunt the competitors. “Not surprised that seven under is in, no,” he said. “There’s plenty of room out there, plenty of opportunities, but this place will get progressively trickier, particularly as it dries out.”
