It’s a story you heard in fourth grade, but golf fans know it well: “Rory McIlroy and the Inevitable Quest for a Fifth Major,” now in its 10th printing, dating back to 2015, when McIlroy was pursuing a career Grand Slam and fifth major title at Augusta after winning the 2014 British Open and PGA Championship.
Nine years later, he’s still chasing both… and that will be the story today as he shares the lead to start the second round of the U.S. Open. He and Patrick Cantlay both shot five-under 65 on Thursday to lead by one stroke over Ludvig Aberg.
McIlroy will start at 7:29 a.m., while Cantlay will join the afternoon group, starting at 1:25 p.m.
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Here’s what happened so far…
Now that most of the earlier wave has turned around, we’re here:
– Xander Schauffele bounced back from two bogeys to start his round and climbed near the top of the leaderboard thanks to five birdies. He’s playing his best round of the day so far.
– Rory McIlroy is hanging in there, dropping a few strokes but working his way back up to four under par, one stroke back.
– Scottie Scheffler still looks out of sorts, 2 over par for his round and 3 over par for the tournament.
– Overall, the course is a little easier for Round 2 than Round 1. The big question is how it will play when the afternoon wave, including leader Patrick Cantlay, hits the course.
– The current cut line is +3, which means the likes of Tiger Woods (+4), Adam Scott (+4) and Dustin Johnson (+4) have some work to do.
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Xander is here
The PGA Champion got off to a slow start yesterday with an even-par 70, then bogeyed his first two holes on Friday, but after the second bogey he reeled off five (five!) birdies to move to three under par and just two strokes behind the leader.
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The god of golf reconciles with Sepp
Remember a few hours ago when Sepp Straka went for the pin only to end up with a triple bogey? Straka bounced back.
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Welcome to the conversation, Thomas Detry
While everyone was desperately trying to make par on the second hole at Pinehurst, Germany’s Thomas Detry was having the best round of the day so far, three under par after four holes. Wow.
Detry shot a first-round 69 to move into a tie for second place at 4-under for the tournament, just one stroke behind Patrick Cantlay, who tees off later in the afternoon.
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A regular par for McIlroy?
Rory McIlroy hit a 39-foot birdie shot on the par-3 17th hole, but it promptly rolled off the green. So how did he react? Well…
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Bryson’s Birdie
Bryson DeChambeau had some birdie chances early in his round, but didn’t capitalize until he made a 25-foot putt on the sixth hole that was kind of like a stolen birdie.
DeChambeau is back at 3 under and will likely be happy with that score for the rest of the day.
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Scottie Scheffler’s past tournaments in one clip
The world number one player saved par on the 15th hole and…
Scheffler finished the tournament with a +2.
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McIlroy gives back again
McIlroy bogeyed four holes on the par-3 15th, giving him two bogeys in his first six holes.
This course is difficult, but not impossible. There have been over a dozen rounds under par. And McIlroy hit every fairway. The key for every player is the approach. Hit it right and you’re OK. Miss it and you’re in trouble.
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Golf can be a cruel game
So Sepp Straka threw an absolute dart onto the third green, hit the flagstick and ended up with a triple.
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McIlroy and DeChambeau give one back
Patrick Cantlay, presumably still sitting on a couch at a rental course, reclaimed the lead after Rory McIlroy bogeyed the 11th hole (his second).
Meanwhile, on the other side of the course, Bryson DeChambeau bogeyed the second hole to fall to 2 under.
The second hole at Pinehurst plays extremely difficult from the beginning. After the first round, the leader may have been 5 under par. Don’t be surprised if the leader is worse off on Friday night.
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High-profile groups miss out
Pinehurst No. 2 has only two par-5 holes, one of which is the 10th hole. That’s where Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Scottie Scheffler started their rounds, but none of them were able to take advantage of it: McIlroy and Schauffele all made pars, Schauffele a bogey.
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Impressions from Round 1
As players continue to take to the course, here are some thoughts after yesterday’s first round.
– Rory McIlroy had a strong first round in a major tournament, a huge achievement for him and his quest to win a fifth major championship.
– Bryson DeChambeau (-3) continues to be the LIV Golf winner.
– Brooks Koepka wasn’t happy with his par (rightly so), and he’s no fan of the media.
– No one really pays much attention to Phil Mickelson anymore. Did you know he was +9?
– Ludvig Aberg (-4) is in the conversation as the best player to never win a major, and this is just his third major win, with rival for the lead, Patrick Cantlay, also in the conversation.
– Tiger Woods (+4) will need to work hard to qualify.
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Will Pinehurst (and the USGA) fight back?
The second round is underway and we’re already seeing…
The USGA doesn’t like low scores in this tournament, so maybe it was noted when the course was set last night that two players were 5 under yesterday, or maybe it was just the Turtleback greens that were to blame.
Either way, it’s worth noting that when Brooks Koepka was asked yesterday what his winning score was, he said it was 4 under.
