Day 1 at the 2021 US Open

Posted on June 18, 2021
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Thursday at The US Open The course showed its teeth, the afternoon definitely playing trickier, but not by much. The wind gusted throughout and the more it blows, the firmer it will become. Sadly round 1 could not be completed, with the weather delay just proving too much. Players did play into dusk to try finish. The day started with a fog delay, which might repeat itself on Friday. The morning fog took a little zip out the greens, but that never lasted for long. With a gusting wind, the greens dried out quickly leaving tasty putts for the morning and afternoon starters alike. Players in the morning wave enjoyed some good scoring amidst the chaos and were able to make some inroads into red numbers. Players leading the charge had zero form headed - Henley posted 67 early, followed by Moli and Rafa posting 68s. There are a few others breaking 70 - most notably the Masters Champ Hideki, Rahmbo, BK and Xander. The afternoon got messy - with the greens getting bumpier as the day progressed. Morning starters on day 2 will be hoping for an improvement in conditions. As the sun set on day 1, King Louis was still out there on the 8th on 4 under par, tied for the lead. Of others still on the course, Munoz sat 2 further back. King Louis will be happy to play the long par-5 9th in the morning with a little less wind than Thursday and suddenly a birdie hole again. Bubba had got there in 2 earlier in the day with a driver off the deck, but most players were treating as a tough 3-shotter. Leaderboards Henley and King Louis sit atop, with round 1 nearly completed. There is a strong contingent sitting at 2 under - with many punter favourites making decent starts. As always with US Opens, par is your friend and there are many notables who shot 71 and better. The list at 1 under is both long and distinguished, but with a few powerful stories too. Richard Bland won his first Euro event recently, aged 47, Eduardo Molinari fell off the golfing planet for the good part of the last decade, The Wolff and Rors are back, plus Cantlay seems to have turned a corner. The Wolff enjoyed a ding-dong day with 8 birdies! A new US Open record. He only had 5 pars all day! So we all know there are bogeys galore and a 1 under score trending nicely can quickly become a spiral of bogeys and despair. Ask Alvaro Ortiz who started with a birdie early on, only to post 44 on his back 9 and an 82! Shot of the Day It was an up and down, to and fro for Rors but he posted a 70, started with a birdie and then later this chip-in from the hay. The closing stretch at Torrey Pines gave players a chance to make a move - 18 was an eagle chance as shown and a few were posted. 15 to 17 too were also inviting. Bez made merry enjoyed the back 9, including a chip in on 13 and later this eagle on 18: Performance of the Day punter Picks Top Bucket: Rahmbo, Xander and Collin dominated at the top - being picked 59% of the time. Only Collin failed to deliver, chunking his way to a 75. Only 1 of the top 15 was left on the bench with Hovland getting no game time from punters this week (and rightly so after his 74). However, 1 punter was left furious at the failure of Webb and his 79! 2nd Bucket: King Louis with his continued major prowess was the top pick, followed by Jordan and Zala. Zala’s 3 straight top 10s in majors is hard to ignore and his stellar irons are expected to be key at Torrey Pines. Jordan has had high hopes but failed spectacularly, posting a miserable 77, while Zala was not far ahead with his 75. 3rd Bucket: This bottom bucket was a tough one to nail down - and the picks are spread far and wide. The Others made up 44% of the picks, but there was some consistency amongst punters with 40% of teams picking one of 2013 Champ JRose, Lowry, and Gracie. JRose was the clear favourite again, despite his average form, which continued at Torrey Pines and woeful 78. Only 1 punter was brave enough to pick the sliding Moli but no one was slotting Henley in - far better bets than JRose. All in all, most punters avoided a full on train wreck, but that does not mean, punters were unscathed. Stats: Bucket 1: Rahmbo 34%, Xander 14%, Collin 11%, BK 9% & DJ 8%. (4 are under par) Bucket 2: King Louis 21%, Jordan 19%, Zala 10%, Scottie 8% & Higgo 6%. (1 of these is under par) Bucket 3: JRose 17%, Lowry 14%, Gracie 9%, Bez 8% & Scotty 8%. (1 of these is under par) For a full view of the scores head to the US Open Leaderboard majorpunter Leaderboard: