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Heading into the 2015 U.S. Open, some predicted the winning score would end up over par. If the first round is any indication, that won't be the case, although Chambers Bay did prove to be a challenge for many. Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson are tied for the first-round lead after they carded 5-under rounds of 65. While Johnson and Stenson went low, Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler had disastrous rounds and saw their U.S. Open chances evaporate.
Match Info..
Golf 2015 U.S. Open Golf Championship
Quail Hollow Country Club, Charlotte, NC
Date : Jun 18 – Jun 21
Purse : $9,000,000
Chambers Bay Golf Course, University Place, WA TV : CBS/TGC
The long-hitting Johnson was nearly flawless on the round. He moved to 6-under after 16 holes and hit the ball extremely well from tee to green. His only blemish on the round came when he bogeyed his final hole of the day. Johnson consistently found the fairway and hit greens in regulation. His length off the tee gives him a solid advantage, and if he continues to be accurate, he could be the one to beat moving forward. Stenson closed with a fury, carding four birdies in his final five holes to tie for the 18-hole lead.
Phil Mickelson topped the leaderboard early in the day at 3-under before running into some issues on the back nine. A pair of bogeys cost him, but he still managed a 1-under round of 69 to dip into the red after the first round. Reigning Masters Champion Jordan Spieth managed to get off to a solid start, shooting a 2-under 68 during the more difficult afternoon wave. He will have the advantage of playing in the morning on Friday, when the course is softer, and could challenge for the lead early. Matt Kuchar, Jason Dufner and Jason Day are among the players under par and within range of the lead.
The day did not go as well for Woods. Still fighting to regain his game, Woods' round quickly spiraled out of control and into a U.S. Open career-worst 10-over 80. Woods only mustered a single birdie. To make matters worse, Woods wasn't even close to playing well. He hit arguably some of the worst shots of his career, including on No. 18 when he topped his second shot right into the turf.
"Really, what tour do you play on?" Els said.
"Your tour," Steve Marino responded, "and I'm 25 spots ahead of you on the money list."
Els howled with laughter, sat down with Marino, and a friendship was forged.
Ah, the good ol' days, when Marino was a steady presence on the PGA Tour, so solid that he piled up $8,889,286 and 21 top 10s from 2007 to '11. So good that he led the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry through 36 holes. It was a show ultimately stolen by 59-year-old Tom Watson, of course, but a cameo role belonged to Marino, his long strides and confident manner making for a nice storyline.
Then, it started to turn. First, an operation on his left knee. Then, "when finally my left knee started feeling better, I broke my left leg and tore ligaments in my left ankle," Marino said. "I jumped out of my boat onto a sandbar and into a hole."
From 2012 to '14, Marino played in just 31 PGA Tour tournaments, the last ones using up his medical extension so that by the start of 2014-15 he could play a few tournaments on the Web.com Tour. He wasn't even sure how. "Some sort of weird status," Marino said, laughing.
In his second tournament, Marino lost in a playoff in Colombia. Disappointing, yes, but the good news is,
it virtually assured him of solid status with the re-shuffle. He has parlayed it into some decent play and sitting 12th on the money list, Marino is in position to re-gain his PGA Tour card for 2015-16.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - NOVEMBER 19: The US Open Golf Trophy pictured during a practice day prior to the DP World Tour Championship at Jumeirah Golf Estates on November 19, 2014 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
MORE U.S. OPEN COVERAGE
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Co-leader Henrik Stenson discusses his 5-under 65
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Woods loses club on swing out of fescue on 8
Spieth, Day, Rose in Friday's first featured FOX Sports GO group
But that's for down the road. Right now, Marino is focused on Chambers Bay and the U.S. Open, his first tournament on the PGA Tour since the Wyndham Classic last August. He got in as the first alternate out of the Dallas site, having shot 67-68 at the Northwood Club to miss by one.
It's his first U.S. Open since 2012 and The Olympic Club. When asked if the grueling Chambers Bay site was perhaps too much on his left leg, Marino shook his head.
"That's not an issue anymore. I'm good, a hundred percent good with all that," Marino said.
Since we saw him last, Marino had somehow turned 35. He laughed. "Older and wiser," he said.
But turning serious, his practice round Wednesday with Matt Every, Billy Horschel and Charley Hoffman did nothing but whet his appetite for a return to the PGA Tour stage. His five successful years never produced
a victory, but there were so many positives that Marino knows he belongs. Better still, he knows he and his game are healthy.
"I'm playing pretty good. I'll be back there," he said.
As early as this week, at the grueling U.S. Open? Marino nodded his head slowly in agreement. "I'm playing pretty good. I might get up there. I think I might."
The U.S. Open is commonly referred to the "toughest test in golf." The goal of the USGA is try and produce a champion that finishes four rounds at even-par. It varies from year to year and course to course, but this is typically the hardest tournament for scoring all season. Bogeys are everywhere and birdies are few and far between. That's a dramatic departure from the other majors, which often let course and conditions dictate the kind of championship
it will be and have no issue crowning a champion that finished double-digit under-par.
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — On the first morning of the United States Open, Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson charted the course for the great unknown that was Chambers Bay with matching five-under-par 65s.
They took different routes to the top, with Johnson relying on his length off the tee and Stenson making the most of his precision with his irons and putter. The map was there for the afternoon’s marquee group of Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Louis Oosthuizen to follow, yet they all ended up hopelessly lost.
The 2015 U.S. Open may be the most unique in the 115-year history of the championship. Here's a little background on what to expect and updated results as the week progresses.
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The first round is in the books. Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson are in the lead with Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson and Jason Day among the players also
in red numbers. Tiger Woods shot the worst round of his U.S. Open career while Rickie Fowler was even worse.
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