Connect with us

Sports

U.S. Open Round 1 live updates, leaderboard: Brooks Koepka is once again big-game hunting at Pinehurst

Published

6 months ago

on

U.S. Open Round 1 live updates, leaderboard: Brooks Koepka is once again big-game hunting at Pinehurst

The 124th U.S. Open is underway at Pinehurst No. 2 in, well, Pinehurst, North Carolina.

From the jump, the field will be chasing world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is on a heater not seen since Tiger Woods’ heyday. Scheffler tees off in the afternoon wave (1:24 p.m. ET to be exact) along with Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. By then, they’ll have a good idea of how difficult the course is playing.

And it is playing tough, with a lot more players over par than under.

Brooks Koepka, who’s won this tournament twice, is making an early run for a third. Woods, on the other hand, is struggling early. It may be tough for him to make the cut, something he also failed to do at the PGA Championship last month.

If you’re looking for tee times, we have them right here.

If you’re looking for how to watch, we’ve got that covered, too.

If you want to check out the leaderboard, click here.

And if you want some help following along with the action, follow along below:

Live23 updates

  • Another Tiger Woods birdie

    Finally, after a bad stretch from Tiger Woods, we have another birdie.

    Woods stuck his approach onto the green from about 260 yards out on the par-5 5th, which set him up for an easy two-putt birdie. He’s at 3-over now.

  • Leaderboard update

    Matthieu Pavon bogeyed, so his lead is down to just a single stroke. But so did Brooks Koepka, who is once again two back.

    Here’s a look at where things stand at the top of the leaderboard in the early wave:

    1. Pavon -4 (11)

    T2. Henley -3 (13*)

    T2. Aberg -3 (12*)

    T4. Koepka -2 (13)

    T4. Cantlay -2 (13*)

    T4. Molinari -2 (10*)

  • Tiger keeps stumbling

    What a rough stretch for Tiger Woods. He’s made five bogeys now in his last seven holes to drop to 4-over. It’s been pretty much straight downhill since he opened his day with a birdie.

  • Matthieu Pavon jumps ahead

    We’ve got a new solo leader in the early wave. Matthieu Pavon just jumped up by two after a huge eagle at the 10th pushed him to 5-under. That’s his second of the day.

  • Brooks has company

    Ludvig Aberg and France’s Matthieu Pavon have joined Koepka at 3-under. There aren’t a lot of birdies out there, but there are a few.

  • Tiger wrongway

    Another miss on the approach for Tiger leads to another bogey. He drove the ball in the fairway at No. 2, only to need four shots to get down from 187 yards out. After a great start, his round is slipping away.

  • Brooks … again

    There was a traffic jam at 2-under, then Brooks Koepka did Brooks Koepka things — in this case, draining a 30-footer for birdie — to get to 3-under through 10.

    The day started with Scottie Scheffler as the favorite. Who would you take now?

  • Another (not good) one for Tiger

    Two three puts in a three-hole span has Tiger now at +2. He had a look for birdie at No. 1 (his 10th), but left it 10 feet short. Yes, 10 feet short. He missed that for bogey, his third in four holes.

  • First nine update

    As players begin to make their turns, here’s where we’re at:

    – Just 14 of the 78 players on the course are under par; 47 are over par

    – Brooks Koepka looks dialed in early, something we’ve seen before.

    – Tiger Woods has his putter working. His issue the last few holes has been getting on the green in regulation and giving himself decent opportunities for birdie.

    – Not going to happen for Phil Mickelson, again. He’s already 5-over after just seven holes.

    – Par is a good score.

  • Back-to-back bogeys for Tiger

    Facing a 57-footer for birdie, Tiger ran it nine feet by the hole. He burned the edge on his par putt and that’s back-to-back bogeys to move him to 1-over through eight holes.

  • Here comes Brooks

    Brooks Koepka loves majors. Heard that before? And now he’s atop the leaderboard thanks to a birdie at No. 7. He and Logan McAllister are at 2-under.

  • Tiger gives one back

    A drive into the rough, a punch out, a less-than-stellar chip to 19 feet led to a bogey for Tiger Woods at 16. (Though he didn’t miss the putt by much.)

  • Logjam at the top

    Well, we jinxed Aberg, because he just bogeyed to move back to 1-under where … we have a 15-way tie for first!

    That includes: Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler, Tony Finau and a qualifier by the name of Sergio Garcia.

  • Tiger Woods’ iron shots have been leaning to the right all morning, but he was perfect off the tee at 15. He got close to another birdie, but settled for par. His tee shot on 16 wasn’t as successful, missing the fairway for the first time this morning.

  • Remember Ludvig Aberg

    You may not — this U.S. Open is only the third major of his career — but you may recall the 24-year-old Swede finishing second, behind only Scottie Scheffler, at the Masters in April.

    Well, after missing the cut at the PGA last month, he’s got it going early with a 2-under round to put himself atop the leaderboard.

    Yes, it’s very early in his career, but he’s got the game to win a major.

  • Tiger’s making moves

    Tiger Woods nearly had a disaster on 14, with the ball on his second shot nearly rolling back downhill off the green, but he managed to turn it into a sterling birdie opportunity. He missed the roughly six-to-eight-foot putt, but saved par and kept his cool, looking calm but serious as he retrieved the ball from the hole.

    Tiger’s playing partners are also through 14. Matthew Fitzpatrick parred the hole, while Will Zalatoris made birdie.

  • Tiger has the putter working early

    After spraying his approach into a bunker on 12, Tiger Woods managed to get up-and-down from about 10 feet to save par.

    Then at 13, after a perfect drive, he flew the approach over the green, chipped back on to give himself an 8-footer for par and … he drained it again.

  • About those greens

    When we say “turtleback” greens, here’s what it refers to … a seemingly solid shot to the green, only to be on the wrong side of the swale … and down it goes.

  • It’s early but …

    With 41 players on the course, we’ve got eight under par (including Tiger Woods, who parred his second), another 16 at even par and 18 over par, including Phil Mickelson, who bogeys the first.

  • Tiger birdies

    The two biggest things players will have to manage this week are keeping it in the fairways (and out of the sandy “rough”) and manage those difficult greens. After a beautiful drive, Tiger Woods sliced his second at the par-5 10th in the “rough.” His first test came early and … he recovered beautifully.

    He curled in a 12-footer for birdie. 1-under. Solid start for Big Cat.

Related Topics:
Continue Reading