US Open live: leaderboard, scores and analysis from round one

Times

a day ago

Rory McIlroy finally completed the career grand slam with his Masters triumph in April but the Northern Irishman has struggled both for motivation and with his driver in the weeks since. He begins his US Open challenge at the 10th alongside Shane Lowry and Justin Rose and finds the left side of the fairway with a crisply struck iron.
Michael Campbell, the New Zealander who won the 2005 US Open ahead of Tiger Woods, was also left asking, 'What next?' after his triumph at Pinehurst. He went on to retire at the age of 46 and gave his advice to McIlroy in The Times this week.
• Rick Broadbent: 'Little Maori boy' who won US Open then retired at 46 — and his advice for McIlroy
Tommy Fleetwood and Ludvig Aberg, two of Europe's Ryder Cup heroes from 2023, have just started their opening rounds and their cases at the year's third major are fascinating this week.
Fleetwood is the seventh best player on the PGA Tour this season in terms of strokes gained statistics and his prowess from tee to green should make him a good match for the narrow fairways, dense rough and sloped putting surfaces at Oakmont. However, one of the great conundrums is that for all his talent, he has not only never won a major, but he has never triumphed on the PGA Tour.
As for Aberg, the Swede continued this season where he left off last by winning the Genesis Invitational and he mounted a fine challenge at the Masters. It seems only a matter of time until the 25-year-old wins his first major and — after a brief drop-off in form — he showed good signs at the Memorial Tournament and Canadian Open on his past two starts.
Another remarkable story at the US Open this week is that of the young Englishman Tyler Weaver. His grandfather, Eric, was a professional footballer from Wales, and his father, Jason, rode Mister Baileys to victory in the 2000 Guineas in 1994 at Newmarket ahead of Frankie Dettori.
Max, two years older than Tyler, will caddie for his brother at Oakmont this week, with Jason and Fiona in attendance to watch their boys. The 20-year-old who, unapologetically, has no back-up plan as he aims for professional ranks tees off at 7.31pm.
• David Walsh: Jockey for a dad, footballer for a grandad — US Open for Tyler Weaver
Rick Broadbent, Oakmont
The best players in the world are about to be humbled by a course that is breathtaking only in its difficulty. Indeed, Jeff Hall, part of the USGA's set-up team, said: 'The members seem to love going 15 rounds with Mike Tyson every day.' Oakmont may even be the toughest course in the world.
It is a brutish amalgam of five-inch rough, narrow fairways, troublesome bunkers and viciously sloping, slick greens. In 2007 Angel Cabrera won at five over par, and Jon Rahm predicted that nobody will be under par if the weather holds. 'A lot of unfortunate things are going to happen,' said the 2021 winner.
• Rick Broadbent: 'Like 15 rounds with Tyson' — is brutal US Open course the world's hardest?
The US Open is under way and the story of the man to hit the opening tee shot is one of the most remarkable in golf. Matt Vogt choked back tears during a rare meeting with some journalists on Monday as it is only two months since his father died from colon cancer. The dentist ranked 1,173rd in the amateur game has just teed off at a course where he spent his teenage years as a caddie and, fittingly, the tournament will come to a climax on Father's Day.
• Matt Vogt: Dentist and world's 1,173rd best amateur ready for US Open
Rick Broadbent, Oakmont
On the morning before he won his first major, at the Masters in 2022, Scottie Scheffler was 'crying like a baby'. Overwhelmed by uncertainty, he told his wife Meredith that he did not feel ready. That may be the last time he was consumed by doubt and he is now edging towards something Tiger-esque.
The world No1 starts this US Open on Thursday as the shortest-priced favourite since Tiger Woods in 2009 and is piecing together a remarkable body of work with what his rivals must regard as an unbearable lightness of being.
To triumph on a course where 1,385 players have appeared in a major and only 27 have finished under par would show he can cope with all manner of conundrums. It would also mean he heads to Portrush next month amid talk of another career grand slam — after Rory McIlroy's feat at Augusta in April.
• Scottie Scheffler is starting to look Tiger Woods-esque — who can stop him?
A field of 156 players will compete at Oakmont with the tee times for the opening two rounds from both the 1st and 10th tees.
Among the early starters at the 1st are Tommy Fleetwood (12.18pm), Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau (12.29pm), Matt Fitzpatrick (12.40pm), and Robert MacIntyre (12.51pm). Ludvig Aberg (12.18pm), Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy (all 12.40pm) will start from the 10th.
• US Open: tee times, how to watch, course guide and key players
US Open courses have always been famed for their dense rough and brutally fast greens but Oakmont Country Club is set to take that to another level this week. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau described the burnt-out course as 'cooked beyond belief' and 'the hardest it could ever play'.
So who will triumph on a course where 1,385 players have appeared in a major, yet only 27 have finished under par? Welcome to the year's third major championship.