Kopeka, Disciplined; Mickelson, Disappointed after Round One U.S. Open
Once again, Brooks Koepka is in contention after round one of the U.S. Open, a tournament he has already won twice. It is no surprise since he has become a regular challenger and frequent winner in majors. He finished at 2-under par, two back of leader Russell Henley as the afternoon wave of players began to tee off.
Phil Mickelson, on the other hand, as a recent winner at the PGA Championship, had higher expectations than results in the first round. He finished at 4-over par.
Both started in the morning wave, with tee times delayed 90 minutes due to coastal fog. About half-way through their rounds, the breeze came up and increased in strength as their play progressed.
“I’ve just got a good game plan, focused, I know what I’m doing,” Koepka said about his ability to play well in the toughest tournaments. “It’s just all about discipline in a U.S. Open.”
Analyzing his first 18 holes, he said he was most pleased about the way he putted even though he is not a fan of poa annua greens because on those surfaces, the putts bounce and often go off line.
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He was disappointed in his driving on the back nine, but in fact, he missed fairways and par 3 greens on both sides. He was in the left rough on 10, missed the green right on 11 and 16, missed the fairway right on the 17th. That was his front nine. On his back side, he missed the green left on three, missed the fairway right on four, five and six, and was left on seven.
Mickelson was somewhat downcast when he finished for the day.
“Fought hard, made a lot of short putts to kind of keep myself in it, and then I ended up bogeying six and seven,” he about his round.
He had the bulk of the gallery. Unfortunately, it meant fans taking video and many of them did not silence their phones. He had no idea why fans didn’t turn the video ping noise to silent. He had to back off multiple times because of it.
“It’s part of playing the game out here at this level. Certainly, I didn’t do the best job of dealing with it,” he admitted.
He doesn’t think his own expectations for his play have changed, but he was disappointed that he didn’t play to the level he knows he can.
One big problem came at the 13th hole, a par five, where he hit a shot out of bounds and got a penalty stroke. His drive found the right rough. His second shot bounded into out of bounds territory left of a tree, which cost him a penalty shot. He then hit the pin on his fourth shot, and that ricocheted into the thick collar around the green. He needed two more to get in the hole, and ended up bogeying the par 5.
“I saw it. I heard it. I hammered it,” he said about hitting the flagstick, adding that it was coming in hot and was never going to be close to the hole. “The fact that I made 6 there, that’s all I was trying to do after taking a drop.”
However, Mickelson remains undaunted in his chase for the ever-elusive U.S. Open title.
“I’m hitting enough fairways to give myself chances, and I’m optimistic that I’ll put together a good round tomorrow,” he said.
Koepka was in 4th place when he left the course.
Mickelson was in 97th and has some work to do. In his favor is that the afternoon players will tee off with winds that were freshening to 20-plus MPH.
Bryson DeChambeau, Rory McIlroy, Patrick Cantlay and Jordan Spieth were just preparing to tee off. Because of the fog delay, the first round may not be completed on Thursday. Players in the afternoon wave may have to return to the golf course Friday morning to complete round one, and then start right away on round two.