Rory McIlroy had a terrible sense of deja vu when his dreams of winning the US Open were shattered on the first day at Oakmont, where a host of big-name players were injured.
The Masters champion, trying to shake off a hangover from his victory at Augusta National in April, came to the course in Pittsburgh last week for a reconnaissance mission and shot an 81.
Although he did slightly better in the first round on Thursday, his four-over-par 74 puts him in a position to deliver something special if he is to win a third major title of the year.
He is eight strokes behind first-round leader JJ Spawn, who took on the challenging Oakmont Course, widely considered the toughest in the game, with a clean 66.
The American leads Triston Lawrence by one stroke, with Sungjae Im, Brooks Koepka and Si Woo Kim all one stroke behind on two under par.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, the clear favorite before the tournament, also failed to score 73 points, as did reigning champion Bryson DeChambeau.
Scheffler noted: “I just feel like after today I'm probably going to have to take a few looks at myself, things could have been a little different.
“But the golf course is just a challenge.”
Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka fared better, with an eagle on the fourth hole helping him cut his lead by two, while Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth both cut theirs by one.
Scotland's Robert MacIntyre believed he had one of the best rounds of his career, finishing tied four strokes off the pace.
McIlroy was simply blown away by the unforgiving golf course, which punishes when the ball is out of range, something the Northern Irishman did many times, and sometimes even when it was in range.
Starting play on the back nine, the Northern Irishman looked to be off to a good start as he finished the turn within two strokes after birdies on the 11th and 12th holes.
But things quickly went wrong when he played holes one through nine in 41 strokes, including four bogeys and one double bogey.
His teammates Justin Rose and Shane Lowry also didn't fare much better, with Rose posting seven points for 77 and the Irishman two points behind, both with
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
