U.S. Open 2019: Rickie Fowler tied for early lead at Pebble Beach
The first round of the 2019 U.S. Open is underway, and Rickie Fowler finds himself tied atop the leaderboard in early action at Pebble Beach.
Looking as relaxed as he might after coming in from a round at The Medalist or The Bear’s Club in Jupiter, Rickie Fowler strolled into the media center tied for the lead at the U.S. Open at 5-under par with Xander Schauffele and Louis Oosthuizen.
Fowler did his best to make it a stress-free first day at the national championship by hitting an astounding 93 percent of fairways and 83 percent of greens. Those are almost unheard of numbers.
Here’s why.
On the PGA Tour, the leader in driving accuracy is Jim Furyk with 73 percent. Tiger Woods leads in greens in regulation with a little over 72 percent. Fowler’s round one play was significantly better than that.
One reason for Fowler’s success was that the wind was more of a gentle breeze than a gale. Some flags were limp. But take nothing away from Rickie Fowler. Everyone else in the morning groups played the same course. And similar conditions continued into the afternoon.
Originally from California, Fowler has, surprisingly, played the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am just twice since turning pro. He doesn’t have a lot of experience on the course.
"“I’ve played a handful of competitive rounds here,” he said to media after his round. “Love this place. Love the layout. I don’t think there’s many people you’ll find who don’t like it here.”More from US OpenU.S. Women’s Open At Pebble Beach A Resounding SuccessAt Pebble, it’s The Women’s No-Name U.S. OpenFantasy Golf: 2023 U.S. Women’s Open DFS Player Selections2023 U.S. Women’s Open Makes Historic Pebble Beach DebutU.S. Open Returns to Riviera Country Club"
He said he assumed the course would firm up as the week progressed and that it would become more difficult.
"“A U.S. Open, you pick apart the weaknesses of guys when they aren’t playing well and define which guys are playing well,” he explained. “I thought today’s setup was great. Some good pin placements, nothing that was over the edge or anything like that.”"
He also added that the course was gettable for those who played in the morning.
“It’s nice when you shoot 66, and that’s about as high as it was going to be,” he said about his own round.
Fowler had only one bogey, and that came at the 9th hole when his six-footer for par slipped by the hole. His birdies came at the 2nd, 4th, 7th, 11th, 14th and 15th. Had he birdied the par five 18th, he would have shot a 65 instead of a 66.
"“Ball-striking is going to be hard to get better than it was,” Fowler summed up. “I think I did a really good job of thinking through everything and being detailed. If I had any worry, I backed off or made sure I went through the process again.”"
Afternoon groups were charging hard with former U.S. Open champ Justin Rose among the challengers. We’ll have more updates as the first round comes to a conclusion later tonight.
Rickie Fowler plays at 4:47 PM EDT on Friday and starts on the 10th tee.