Cantlay fires a 5-under 65 for the clubhouse lead, as Pinehurst yields more low scores than expected midway Thursday’s opening round.
PINEHURST, N.C. — By midafternoon Thursday, more than 150 of the world’s best golfers had teed off at one of the country’s most iconic courses, all navigating the same wiregrass rough, treacherous greens and mental acrobatics that make the Pinehurst No. 2 course the vexing foil in both fantasies and nightmares. For all the unknowns at a U.S. Open, the names near the top of the early leader board here were strikingly familiar.
“I knew going off at 7:40 in the morning, it’s going to play maybe the easiest it will play all week, with the lack of wind and probably the softest we will see it,” Cantlay said. “I’m really happy with the round I played today.”With much of the field still on the course, Cantlay held a one-stroke lead over Ludvig Aberg, a 24-year-old Swede who finished second at the Masters and is playing in his first U.S. Open. Matthieu Pavon carded a 67, and Tony Finau posted a 68.
While many of the tournament favorites had afternoon tee times — including Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau — the morning rounds hinted that despite the difficult course setup, low scores are possible, at least compared to some past U.S. Opens. There were eight golfers from the morning groups who finished the round under par, with several others on course to do the same.At the 2014 U.S.
“It’s something that I give a lot of respect to, and I’m very proud of,” he said. “I’ve had the pleasure of playing this championship 25 years in a row, so not a lot of people get to do that, so I’m very, very happy to be here.”
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