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Phil Mickelson faces missing the cut at the US Open after a scorching first round, with Adam Hadwin impressing as the surprise early leader at The Country Club on Thursday.
Playing on his 52nd birthday, Mickelson struggled to an 8-over 78, with only seven players from the 156-man field taking a lower score. The six-time big winner must finish in the top 60 by the end of Friday’s second round to avoid being cut.
Although the first players started under a clear blue sky in Brookline, Massachusetts, the build-up to the 122nd edition of the major was dominated by the storm clouds of the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the new competition threatens to disrupt the traditional golf format by offering players huge sums of money to earn from established golf tours. Mickelson – one of 17 players banned from the PGA Tour for participating in the venture – was featured at the series’ inaugural event in London last week.
He was given another awkward press conference for the major on Monday, asking questions about criticism of himself and other golfers who had joined the breakout series of a coalition of families and survivors of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The US Open, a 45-time winner of the PGA Tour, remains the only major to avoid Mickelson, who finished runner-up in the event six times. He arrived at the first tee to the cheers of a large crowd gathered to watch.
However, the discomfort from earlier in the week soon persisted when Mickelson bogeyed three of the first five holes.
A brilliant tee shot to the green on the ensuing par-three looked poised to lift the American, before Mickelson finally sank to double-bogey and five-over par after three disastrous putting attempts after just six holes.
Sandwiched between a bogey and a double bogey, a birdie on the 11th hole caused a brief stoppage before five consecutive pars held the ship steady.
Cheers and cheers from the fans continued throughout, but an exasperated grimace and head shake after a loop of an approach shot from the tall grass across the green and into the rough on the final hole epitomized Mickelson’s woes, who eventually tapped home for a closing boomerang.
An impressive display from Hadwin provided a surprising early leader, the Canadian who mapped four-under 66.
The 34-year-old – whose only win on the PGA Tour came at the Valspar Championship in 2017 – sank a blistering five birdies over the front nine before firing par down the second half of the track to maintain his one-shot lead.
Hadwin, ranked 105th in the world, showed no sign of nervousness in leading the standings.
“Surprisingly, quite comfortable,” Hadwin told Sky Sports. “I felt comfortable, which was a nice feeling at a US Open because it doesn’t happen often.
“Especially at a big event like this, it’s a little easy to get the mind moving once you see your name appear at the top of the leaderboard and you start playing well, but I did a great job of just zeroing in and concentrating on every single shot.”
Rory McIlroy joined four golfers in the chasing pack at three-under 67, a final hole bogey that denied the Northern Irishman lead together and finish with a spotless scorecard.
The four-time big winner got off to a strong start, playing two-under before getting a nightmare bunker-to-bunker shot on the fourteenth hole.
An angry reaction followed, but McIlroy made an excellent recovery to save par. With consecutive birdies on the penultimate two holes, it looked like he would end with a blowout before an uneasy approach shot on the final hole left the 33-year-old “somewhat frustrated” despite an overall promising start.
“It’s fine, it’s something to learn from,” McIlroy told reporters.
“I’m sitting here talking about the bad stuff when 17 of the holes were really good — I’m happy with the start.”
After chasing his first major triumph in eight years, McIlroy seemed excited the whole time, with a frustrated club throw on the last hole that cemented his reaction four holes earlier. Asked about the change from his usual calm demeanor, McIlroy said it was necessary to let his competitive anger out once in a while.
“To remind yourself sometimes how much it means to you,” he explained.
“The margins are just so nice in this tournament, and I think you can see that in some of the reactions.”
McIlroy is on par with Swede David Lingmerth, American Joel Dahmen, South African MJ Daffue and PGA Tour rookie Callum Tarren.
The Englishman, who was ranked 445th in the world and arrived as a qualifier, was one of the first to stall and return to the clubhouse as the early leader.
A sparkling front nine saw Tarren sink three birdies and an eagle on the eighth hole. The 31-year-old bogeyed in tenth, but dealt with eight straight pars to close out an opening lap that surpassed even Tarren’s wildest dreams.
“I pinch myself a little bit,” Tarren told reporters. “I didn’t realize it was at the top of the standings until I pulled that last putt on the 9th hole.
“Just excited with my start, and let’s see what the next few days have in store.”
Reigning champion Jon Rahm follows Hadwin with three shots after carding a one-under 69, with American duo Colin Morikawa and Justin Thomas scoring the same score.
Scottie Scheffler shot a par-70, the world No. 1 chasing his second major of the year after winning the green jacket at The Masters in April.
Friday’s second round is slated to tee off with the first groups at 6:45 a.m. ET