Historic 62s from Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele kick off US Open

LOS ANGELES – The US Open is widely viewed as the most difficult of the four men’s golf Majors, but with soft conditions at a little-known venue, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele made their opening rounds look like child’s play.

Fowler rang up a record 10 birdies en route to a first round of 62 in US Open history, and Schauffele finished up a bogey-free 62 about 20 minutes later to match him on Thursday at the Los Angeles Country Club (LACC).

Both players birdied their penultimate holes, the par-five eighth, to break the record of 63 held by six players – Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Vijay Singh, Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood – and equal the lowest Major round of all time set by Branden Grace at the 2017 British Open.

The duo went eight-under at the LACC’s par-70 North Course, which is hosting a Major for the first time.

“It’s not really what you expect playing a US Open,” Schauffele, who had eight birdies, said of the surprising low scores.

“But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard.”

After the morning wave, Fowler and Schauffele were five shots clear of the field, with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau among a group at three under.

That gap was filled during the afternoon when Dustin Johnson and Wyndham Clark shot six-under 64 and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman went five-under 65.

Both Fowler, 34, and Schauffele, 29, are in search of the first Major titles of their careers.

Fowler, a long-time fan favourite on the PGA Tour, is playing his first US Open since 2020 after failing to qualify for two straight years.

“It’s definitely been long and tough. A lot longer being in that situation than you’d ever want to,” he said.

“But it makes it so worth it having gone through that and being back where we are now.”

He made 10 of 13 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. Most importantly, he led the field with 4.84 strokes gained putting.

“The first few days this week I wasn’t feeling very comfortable swinging and wasn’t making many putts or hitting very good putts, so continued to get work in on the course as well as in the practice area, and finally a couple things clicked a bit (on Wednesday),” the American added.

“Then it was more of just go out, trust it and let things happen.

“I knew there was birdies to be made out here, but you have to drive it well and get the ball in position first. Yeah, did that, and from there just managed our way around really well.”

In six US Open starts, Schauffele has finished in the top 15 all six times, with five top-10s and three top-fives.

“I had a pretty good flow throughout the round,” he said.

“I was looking at Rickie up on the board all day – every time I made a birdie, it just said I was still in second place. So I just felt like if he was doing it, why can’t I?“

Johnson, the 2016 US Open champion, was seven under through his first 17 holes before a wayward tee shot at the par-three ninth led to his only bogey.

Earlier, the LIV Golf star made his charge up the leaderboard with five birdies from Nos. 1-8.

Like Johnson, McIlroy was cruising through a bogey-free round until his last hole. He found tall vegetation on the side of the 18th green, and the blade of his club went under the ball completely on his first attempt to chip onto the green. He got on with his second try and made an 11-foot putt to save bogey.

Before that, he made five of his six birdies at Nos. 1-8, just like Johnson. The four-time Major winner is trying to prevent his Major title drought from reaching 10 years.

Scheffler and DeChambeau were joined at three-under 67 by Kim Si-woo, Paul Barjon, Harris English, Mackenzie Hughes and Sam Bennett. Now a professional, Bennett was the amateur who made a name for himself at the Masters by tying for 16th. REUTERS, AFP