Scottie Scheffler chips on the 7th hole during the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club. (Photo: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports)
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler overcame a sluggish start – he made bogey at the first hole and on a day when birdies were plentiful, he didn’t make his first until the par-3 ninth hole.
Scheffler made bogeys at the first and last hole but carded five birdie in between en route to shooting 3-under 67 on Thursday.
“Had a little hiccup there at the last but can’t complain,” Scheffler said. “Hit a lot of good shots today and I did a good job of staying patient out there and posted a good number on a day in which I got off to a pretty slow start.”
Scheffler also elected to change putters, using a Scotty Cameron Newport 2 Plus and the early returns were positive.
“Pretty good. I mean, I rolled it nice, saw some putts go in,” he said.
John Rahm, the world No. 2, struggled to find fairways but eked out a 1-under 69. No. 3 Rory McIlroy birdied five of his first eight holes but whiffed on a pitch from the rough at the last. He made his lone bogey to post 5-under 65. No. 4 Patrick Cantlay rallied late to shoot 1-over 71. No. 5 Viktor Hovland bounced back after making a double-bogey on the par-5 14th hole today – his fifth hole of the day. He is just the third player over the last 10 years to bounce back from 3 over or worse, to finish under par during his first round of a U.S. Open (Edoardo Molinari did that in 2021 at Torrey Pines, as did John Pak in 2020 at Winged Foot).
Defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick shot 1-over 71. The 2015 U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth shot 2-over 72 while two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas and former Masters champion Adam Scott signed for 73s.
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