Brooks Koepka was annoyed by questions about the LIV series earlier this week and he called it a “Black Cloud” over the U.S. Open.
On Thursday, that Black Cloud settled over Koepka’s game.
The two-time winner of this championship surprised everyone when he decided to ditch his Srixon driver and golf ball before the start of this championship — not something you’d normally do coming into a major championship. He went back to an old TaylorMade model driver that he won those two U.S. Open with along with the same ball — a Titleist Pro-V1x.
Didn’t help. Koepka had too many sloppy holes and by day’s end he signed for a 73 thanks to a half-dozen bogeys on his card. That left him tied for 79th and in need of a good round on Friday just to make it to the weekend.
U.S. Open Notebook:
Joel Dahmen found himself a shot off the lead thanks to the fact that he hit 16 greens on Thursday.
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Max Homa was high on a lot of lists as a pre-tournament favorite. He fought off three bogeys and managed to post a one-under par 69.
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It looked like the morning wave had the advantage on day one. The greens were a bit more receptive early and the wind was mild at five miles-per-hour. In the afternoon, winds picked up to 10-15 miles per hour but that didn’t stop Adam Hadwin from posting the day’s low score. Everyone though Justin Thomas was on the bad side of the draw at the PGA and we know how that turned out.
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Big names win majors. If you’re looking for an upset winner, well consider the names of the players who have won the last nine major championships: Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Hideki Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Hideki Matsuyama.
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The only withdrawal prior to Thursday’s start was Abraham Ancer, who fell ill Wednesday night. He was replaced in the field by Patton Kizzire. Kizzire shot 74. Poor Rickie Fowler hung around all day waiting for someone else to withdraw but that never happened and Fowler headed back home.
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Dustin Johnson was low LIV defector on Monday with a two-under par 68 but declined to speak to the media. Rumor was he lost his ‘crib sheet” of answers provided last week in London.
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A stolen golf ball? That’s what happened to Jon Rahm on the 18th hole, his final hole of the day Thursday.
Rahm’s tee shot finished underneath a TV tower. It could have wound up in the tall grass but instead settled under the TV tower. As he approached the area, he spotted two teenagers, on picked up Rahm’s ball and the two took off running in the other direction. “I’m pretty sure I know who it was,” he said, chuckling. “I am 100 percent sure I saw the two kids that stole it.”
An official helped him with a drop away from the tower. Then from 135 out, Rahm hit his approach to 20-feet, holed the birdie putt and posted a one-under par 68.
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A pair of amateurs had a good opening round Thursday. NCAA individual champion Travis Vick from the University of Texas shot 70 as did Sam Bennett from Texas A&M.
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