Adam Scott heads Australasians at Oakmont
Adam Scott – in action today – image USGA
Adam Scott will lead the Australasian challenge into day two of the US Open at Oakmont, his even par morning round (70) on day one leaving him just four behind the first-round leader, J.J. Spaun and in a share of 11th place.
Scott was out at 7.18 along with Ludvig Aberg and Hideki Matsuyama and opened with a bogey when missing the fairway and the green at the 10th hole, but mixed five birdies and two bogeys in a roller coaster front nine to be 2 under making the turn.
Scott would, though, drop two shots on the way in but, just four behind the lead, he has made an encouraging start and is well enough placed heading into tomorrow’s afternoon round with only 10 players breaking par in what were relatively good conditions.
Scott will face an afternoon draw tomorrow, but he has started well in his 26th US Open appearance, with a best finish of 4th at the 2015 edition at Chambers Bay.
Marc Leishman, who managed to earn his start through Final Qualifying ten days ago, is the next best placed of the Australasians following his round of 1 over par 71. Leishman recovered from a sluggish start in which he bogeyed two of his first five holes and at one stage was 1 under through 12 holes before bogeys at his 15th and 16th holes saw him eventually finish tied for 20th and five from the lead.
New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, fresh from his great win in Canada on Sunday, opened with a round of 72, which, all things considered, was an impressive follow-up to what must have been an emotional few days.
Fox played this opening nine in 1 under par and was still even par through 13 holes but a double bogey would come at the 14th after finding the rough from the tee and then taking two in a greenside bunker.
Cam Davis had 74, Cam Smith 75, Jason Day 76 and Min Woo Lee 77.
The cut appears as if it will fall somewhere between 6 and 8 over, depending on conditions on day two.
The leader, J.J. Spaun, has just one PGA Tour win, and that was three years ago, but he has many impressive finishes, including a playoff loss to Rory McIlroy at the Players Championship this year.
“I kind of came out here with no prior history at Oakmont, not really knowing what to expect even U.S. Open-wise,” said the 34-year-old. “This is only my second one.”
“I don’t know if that freed me up in any aspect, but I just tried to kind of take what the course gave me. I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalize on any birdie opportunities, which aren’t very many out here. But I scrambled really well, too, which is a huge component to playing well at a U.S. Open, let alone shoot a bogey-free round.
“I’m just overly pleased with how I started the tournament.”
“I don’t know why this is happening already or happening at this point in my career,” added Spaun, referring to his great season to date. “But I guess being kind of put in that spot at THE PLAYERS, I was leading going into the final round of the Sony Open, I finished second at Cognizant, like I’ve been consistently right there. And everyone knows that the more you put yourself there, the better you’re going to have results and the better you’re going to play, eventually it will turn one of those close calls into a win.
“THE PLAYERS was sort of a kind of spring into self-belief because it wasn’t like I faked it. Yeah, you can maybe fake it at the Sony and Cognizant or whatever, but to do that at THE PLAYERS, a course where I’d never done well historically, and to go head-to-head with Rory on Sunday, and then the playoff was great for my confidence.
“Unfortunately, I didn’t win, but it was great for me to kind of lean back on that experience and know that I can perform on the biggest of stages and handle it with the pressure.
“There’s going to be a lot of pressure this week, too, and hopefully I can rely on those experiences.”
J.J. Sapun en route to the US Open lead on day one – image USGA
