Singapore’s Hiroshi Tai makes US Open golf debut, cards 75 in first round

NORTH CAROLINA - Singaporean golfer Hiroshi Tai posted a five-over 75 to place joint-105th in his debut at the US Open in Pinehurst on June 13 (June 14, Singapore time).

Teeing off on the back nine alongside Americans Harry Higgs (76) and Brandon Wu (74), the 22-year-old amateur had a bogey on the par-four 12th but quickly bounced back with a birdie – his sole birdie in the first round – in the next hole.

Three more bogeys on the fourth, sixth and seventh holes in the front nine put him in joint-65th at this point, but a double bogey on the par-three ninth saw him signing for a 75 in joint-105th.

After an eventful first day at Pinehurst No. 2, he is among a group of 15 golfers that includes 2012 US Open champions Webb Simpson and LIV Golf Bangkok winner Eugenio Chacarra.

Two-time PGA Championship winner Justin Thomas (77) and six-time Major winner Phil Mickelson (79) are further back at joint-132nd and joint-146th respectively.

The top 60 players and ties among the 156-strong field will make the cut after 36 holes at the US Open.

Northern Irishman Rory McIlroy and American Patrick Cantlay are in the lead after the first round with a five-under par 65, with Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg (66), France’s Matthieu Pavon and Bryson DeChambeau (both 67) in hot pursuit in golf’s third Major of 2024.

Tai is

the first Singaporean to play in a Major

since 2012 – when Mardan Mamat was disqualified on his third appearance at the British Open. Mardan became the first Singaporean to play in a Major at the 1997 British Open. Lam Chih Bing, who placed 83rd in the 156-strong field in the 2008 British Open, is the only local to have made the cut at a Major.

Georgia Institute of Technology sophomore Tai earned his spot at the US Open, and also the 2025 Masters, after

winning the individual title

at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship on May 27 – he was the first Asian and Singaporean golfer to achieve the feat.