Rory McIlroy shares the lead with Patrick Cantlay after shooting 65 in the first round of the US Open at Pinehurst
They tried to tell us. That you don’t attack Pinehurst No 2 as much as survive it. That the signature slippery greens of this Donald Ross gem in the shape of inverted saucers are up against the outer limits of fairness. That there will be blood.
Earlier this week McIlroy attributed what’s been an incremental reversal of form at this event to a “come-to-Jesus moment” in his approach to the USGA’s famously unsparing setups. The 35-year-old has posted top‑10s in his past fiveappearances, each finish improving on the one before, including last year when he finished runner-up to Wyndham Clark at Los Angeles Country Club.
But there was no shortage of suffering from the earliest moments on Thursday morning when Michael McGowan, a 33-year-old qualifier who grew up down the road in nearby Southern Pines, sent the opening tee shot drifting left into the natural sand. The local favourite’s double bogey only presaged the tough sledding to come on a course made famous by treacherous domed greens, where a putt that misses the cup by a hair can easily roll off the crowned edges into a bunker.
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