US Open Leaderboard 2015: Friday Score Updates and Tournament Predictions
The first day of the 2015 U.S. Open was a mixed bag to say the least.
We had Dustin Johnson continuing his redemption story and sitting atop the leaderboard with Henrik Stenson. We had Jordan Spieth battling his way to a two-under day and Rory McIlroy going two over, both keeping themselves generally in contention. Then we had the unholy hellscape that was the Tiger Woods-Rickie Fowler-Louis Oosthuizen threesome, who, for all I know, may still be finishing their first round on the course.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Let's start with Johnson and Stenson, in part because it takes time and a lot of thought to properly contextualize how poorly Woods' threesome played. Johnson played a nearly flawless round, carding six birdies against a single bogey on No. 9. He hit 11 of 14 fairways while slamming the ball nearly 337 yards per drive, making it almost impossible for him to miss greens.
"You can't really overpower this course," Johnson said, per Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times. "It helps to hit it long, but only if you also hit it straight."
Johnson is looking for his first career major championship and arrived in Washington playing some of the best golf of his career. The 30-year-old has posted six top-10s in 12 events, and he was a fourth-place finisher in last year's U.S. Open.
Stenson was right with Johnson in 2014 and appears primed to stick on the leaderboard all week. The Swede shot a flawless 31 on the back nine (his front) as part of his five-under day, including a stretch of four birdies in five holes as he made the turn. The round finished poorly, with his two bogeys coming on Nos. 6 and 8, but it's hard to complain.
“Mentally I was in a good place,” Stenson told reporters. "Ball striking wise, I hit some real quality shots out there. I played as solid as I have all year. I set up a lot of birdie chances coming in and just rolled a couple of beauties in from 14 and on.”
Three strokes behind sits Spieth, who is trying to be the first Masters champion to compete into Sunday at the Open since Phil Mickelson in 2010. Spieth was far from his peak form, needing 31 putts and struggling a bit with his drive accuracy. But a six-hole stretch from No. 8 to No. 13, during which Spieth carded four birdies, allowed him to finish the day under par.
“In the middle of [the] round, I got it going and found a little rhythm,” Spieth said, per George Willis of the New York Post. “I didn’t strike the ball too well. I wasn’t pleased with the way I hit it and I missed a couple of putts. But that’s going to happen. I just came out to try to find a little something. I’m just trying to find the same rhythm I had when I got here.”
Spieth is one stroke ahead of Mickelson and four removed from Rory McIlroy. Mickelson, in keeping with his 2015 tradition, had a nine-hole stretch of greatness followed by one where things went off the rails. After making the turn at 32, Mickelson bogeyed three of his first five holes on the back nine to go out one under.
McIlroy, meanwhile, will have to make up for a round that did not have much positivity. The world No. 1 needed 34 putts and was a mess on the green, ruining solid conversion rates on the fairway and greens in regulation.
"I played well from tee to green," McIlroy said, per Bob Harig of ESPN.com. "I thought the course was set up fair. A score in the mid-60s was out there, as you can see with Dustin and Henrik. I thought you could be aggressive here. It's not a game of chess. I just didn't putt well enough."
Still, nothing compares to the struggles of one Eldrick Woods. The former world No. 1 turned in one of the worst rounds of golf of his career for the second time this month, carding a 10-over 80. Nothing about the round—from his tees to his irons to his putter—worked for even a single hole. He opened the day with back-to-back bogeys and never got going, reaching a nadir when he tripled the par-four 14th.
“I couldn’t grind out any harder than that,” Woods said, per Karen Krouse of the New York Times. “So that’s just the way I played, and unfortunately it was a high number.”
Woods is coming off a performance at The Memorial that featured the worst 72-hole score of his career. That tournament, which Woods has won five times, was highlighted by an 85 in the third round that is the single worst round of his career. Now with the worst U.S. Open score of his career out of the way, one can only wonder what feats of sadness will come next.
On the bright side, Woods is sitting in a tie for 152nd place. Two golfers had a worse day. One of them was Fowler, a pre-tournament favorite who shot 11 over. Woods and Fowler should have the opportunity to spend their Saturday and Sunday at home, and you know what Dorothy says about that.
Again, bright side here in what's appearing to be a dark week for most of the top names.
| 1 | Dustin Johnson | -5 |
| T-2 | Jordan Spieth | -4 |
| T-2 | Jason Day | -4 |
| T-2 | Patrick Reed | -4 |
| T-5 | Henrik Stenson | -3 |
| T-5 | Joost Luiten | -3 |
| T-7 | Matt Kuchar | -2 |
| T-7 | Rory McIlroy | -2 |
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
