LOS ANGELES — Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele became part of U.S. Open history Thursday in a most unfathomable manner. No one had ever shot a 62 in the previous 122 editions of golf’s toughest test until they did it some 15 minutes apart.
Even more stunning were so many other records on an extraordinary day for scoring at the major that puts par on a pedestal.
Fowler made 10 birdies — believed to be a record for most holes under par for any round in the U.S. Open — and can always say he was the first with a 62. Two groups behind him, Schauffele capped off his 8-under-par 62 without a bogey on his card or a care in the world.
“I’m going to take what the course can give me,” he said. “And today it gave me a low one.”
The North Course at Los Angeles Country Club was so defenseless that no one shot 80 or higher over 18 holes. The U.S. Open had never had more than two players at 65 or better in the opening round. There were six such rounds at LACC.
Most telling was the average score of 71.37, the lowest for an opening round in U.S. Open history. Most embarrassing for the United States Golf Association at its big show was the U.S. Open joining the Bermuda Championship as the only tournaments this year to feature two rounds of 62 on the same day.
“I’d imagine the USGA is not loving the scores too much,” said Mackenzie Hughes, whose 67 had him tied for seventh. “I’m guessing the sprinklers are going to be turned off tonight.”
No need for Fowler and Schauffele to apologize. No need for an asterisk. Brooks Koepka, a runner-up at the Masters in April and a third-time winner of the PGA Championship a month ago, couldn’t break par; he shot a 71, never a bad start at the U.S. Open, which he has won twice, but it left him nine strokes behind in this one.
On the first day of this edition of the toughest test in golf, what was tough was keeping track of the 485 birdies and eight eagles.
“It’s not really what you expect playing a U.S. Open,” Schauffele said. “But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard. Glad he was just in front me.”
AP photo by Marcio J. Sanchez / Xander Schauffele lines up a putt on the 10th hole of the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club during the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. Schauffele shot an 8-under-par 62 to tie the scoring record Rickie Fowler had set less than a half-hour earlier.Those who came behind them looked to do the same. Dustin Johnson hit all 13 fairways and had a chance at 62 as well, until his 5-iron shot on the par-3 ninth went into a bunker next to the 18th green. That led to his only bogey and a somewhat disappointing 64 — rare to say in a U.S. Open — to join Wyndham Clark at third on the leaderboard.
Rory McIlroy went out in 30 — his best nine-hole start in any major — and had to settle for a 65. The four-time major champion whiffed on a delicate flop shot from the thick collar of grass around the 18th and escaped with a bogey. Also at 65 was Brian Harman, who played his first 10 holes in 6 under but went 1 over from there.
Johnson still found his way into the record book. He tied Tiger Woods for most rounds of 65 or lower in the majors (10).
“This isn’t your typical U.S. Open mindset of like, ‘I’m just playing for par.’ You’ve got to make some birdies to keep in line with those guys,” Harris English said after a ho-hum 67.
English fared best among three Baylor School graduates in the field, with Keith Mitchell one stroke further back and Luke List shooting a 75. All three had afternoon tee times Thursday.
Fowler’s remarkable round included two bogeys, when he missed the green on the 254-yard 11th hole and missed the fairway on the 17th on his front nine. Starting with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th, he ran off four straight birdies.
He set the record with a two-putt finish from just less than 60 feet on the par-5 ninth. That’s also when he noticed the leaderboard.
“I knew where I was at,” Fowler said. “I would say from the middle of the round up until the ninth green, our last hole, I didn’t really know or see any scores. And then I saw that Xander was at 7 (under) at that point, and I’m not sure if he even knew where I was or anything.
“But it was kind of cool if he did, to see he kind of latched on and we were taking off a bit.”
Schauffele was two groups behind and never too far away. He lost one birdie chance on the short par-4 sixth by trying to drive the green, but then picked up a rare birdie on the 258-yard seventh hole with what he called a “tomahawk 4-iron” to five feet and got up and down from short of the green on the par-5 eighth.
They now share the major championship record with Branden Grace, who had a 62 in the third round in the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale.
Their record day came on the 50-year anniversary of Johnny Miller posting the first 63 in U.S. Open history; he closed with that score to win at Oakmont. Since then, five players have shot a 63 in a U.S. Open, most recently Tommy Fleetwood in 2018 at Shinnecock Hills.
Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf each shot a 63 in the opening round at Baltusrol in the 1980 U.S. Open, which Nicklaus went on to win.
The conditions were prime for scoring at Los Angeles Country Club: overcast and mild with barely any wind. Condensation in the morning felt like a like mist, and it kept the greens receptive.
The next best score from the morning wave was 67 by a group that included Bryson DeChambeau and top-ranked Scottie Scheffler. Five more players shot 67 before the day was over.
The low scoring was sure to raise questions about LACC, a century-old club hosting a major championship for the first time.
“It’s just Thursday,” Schauffele said. “It’s literally just the first day of a tournament. It’s a good start. You just wait until this place firms up. It’s going to be nasty.”
Schauffele tends to play his best in the U.S. Open — he has five top-10 finishes in his six appearances — and he has been among the elite on the PGA Tour the past several years even without winning a major.
Fowler is different. In 2014, he finished in the top five at all four majors. A recent slump made it a challenge for him to just get in them; he was the first alternate last year and had to go home without hitting a shot.
But he went back to instructor Butch Harmon in September and has played well enough to get back into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking after being in danger of falling out of the top 200 a year ago.
And there he was at a major, putting his name in the record book for all the right reasons.
“It’s definitely been long and tough — a lot longer being in that situation than you’d ever want to,” Fowler said. “But it makes it so worth it having gone through that and being back where we are now.”