US Open: After a historic first day at the 123rd US Open, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele share the early lead with Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy.
Fowler combined 10 birdies and two bogeys for a remarkable eight-under 62 at Los Angeles Country Club, the lowest round in US Open history and matching Branden Grace’s record-low men’s major total recorded at The Open in 2017.
For less than 20 minutes, the American held the outright lead until Schauffele made eight birdies in a blemish-free 62 to share first place, with the duo enjoying a two-stroke buffer over two-time major winner Johnson and Wyndham Clark – the choice of the afternoon starters – in a tie for third.
A final-hole bogey knocked McIlroy three shots off the lead on five under, but he is still in contention for his first major title since 2014, while world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is five shots down and tied-seventh after an opening-round 67.
In Los Angeles, the US Open develops a Hollywood screenplay.
Fowler started with a birdie at the par-four 10th, then made up for a bogey at the next with three birdies in a five-hole run beginning at the 12th, then replied to a dropped shot at the long 17th by rolling in from 15 feet at the 18th to finish in 32.
The former US Open runner-up took advantage of the par-five first and added to his birdie total over the next two holes, with Fowler also picking up strokes at the sixth and eighth holes before finishing with a two-putt par from distance at the par-three ninth.
Schauffele, who was playing two groups behind Fowler, got off to a flying start with a 40-foot birdie at the 10th, the first of three birdies in the opening five holes, with the Olympic gold medallist then following back-to-back wins from the first with a 60-footer from the edge at the fifth.
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