McIlroy Explodes, But Leads U.S. Open; Rahm Simmers, Hangs In

Rory McIlroy is right where he wants to be:  at the top of the leaderboard at the U.S. Open. That’s with an uncharacteristic explosion of temper in a bunker at the 5th, a drivable par four. He clearly wanted to murder the hole.

“I was sort of cursing the USGA whenever I was going up to the ball,” he admitted to media after his round, adding that it’s the kind of situation only seen at the U.S. Open.

"“I gave the sand a couple of whacks because I’d already messed it up, so it wasn’t like it was much more work for Harry, and then I just reset and played a decent bunker shot, and then it was really nice to hole that putt.”"

They were more than whacks.  They were slashes, hacks, real Jack the Ripper stuff.

What happened was McIlroy had taken a 3-wood off the tee for safety and, instead of landing on the fairway, landed in some long grass next to a bunker.

His stance was in the bunker with the ball probably at knee level, from what could be seen. His smash out landed the ball one bunker ahead.

That’s when he went nuts for a moment and bashed the sand with his wedge twice, like he was killing a poisonous snake or destroying a watermelon. Some said he momentarily turned into Sergio Garcia.

Regardless, he made a putt to save par on the hole to remain 3-under par.

"“One of the things over the years that I maybe haven’t done as well at U.S. Opens is when I’ve put myself in those sort of positions, like in that long rough on 2 or where I’ve found myself on 5, trying to be a little too heroic with the first shot and leaving it in there or just sort of completely getting it wrong, and then all of a sudden you’re scrambling to make a double,” he explained."

Still, showing how well he is playing right now, McIlroy proceeded to birdie the 7th and 8th holes to get to 4-under par before making his only bogey on his final hole, which was the 9th.

There, he hit into the deep grass right of the green, hacked out, but was unable to one-putt.

On the day overall, he said he putted well, hit the ball well, and gave himself many chances.

"“You’d take 67 around this golf course any day,” he added. “Even though I’m standing up here slightly frustrated that I bogeyed the last, it’s a great start to the tournament.”"

Jon Rahm was just on simmer during a lot of the round, looking like he might have his own slash and burn moment several times.  But he held it together nicely and even made birdie on his final hole, the 18th, to go to 1-under par. He gave a fist pump, almost a take that, golf course, move.

“It’s just more of a thank-God-I-made-a-putt-type deal,” Rahm explained to media after his round. “I just saw a lot of them get close and not go in, and to hit two wayward drives in the last two holes and somehow end up with two birdie putts and making the last one — it’s more the fact of making putt to break par on the first round of the U.S. Open. It’s quite a big deal.”

The first five holes, Rahm noted, were windless, and he started thinking that it was going to take 6 or 7-under par to lead.  Then the breeze arrived.

“When the crosswinds started coming, it was tough,” he added.

He said, after the 5th, except for the 9th hole, he did not experience one straight downwind hole. They were all left to right or right to left.

"“You have to really strike the ball well to put in those fairways, which I was able to do,” he noted. “It’s not the longest U.S. Open we’ve played. It’s not the trickiest U.S. Open we’ve played, but with this wind and those greens, they can — with pin positions, they can make it as hard or easy as they want.”"

Any missed shots, he said, were completely on him. Bad swings.

As the afternoon groups started, the wind picked up, with some pin flags blowing straight out.

While both McIlroy and Rahm wished they could have been a shot or two better for their rounds, they both know that anything under par at a U.S. Open is a good start. It will only get harder each day.