Jordan Spieth Digs Hole Shooting 1-over Par in Thursday's US Open Opening Round

Jordan Spieth faces an uphill battle to chase down his third major championship after firing a one-over 73 in Thursday's first round of the 2017 U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Erin, Wisconsin. 

The 23-year-old American, who won the event in 2015, finished the opening 18 holes with 15 pars, one birdie and two bogeys. The mediocre performance left him in a tie for 52nd place, eight shots off the early pace set by Rickie Fowler, with the afternoon wave of play ongoing at the season's second major.

Here's a look at the updated tournament leaderboard:

Spieth's slow start comes as a surprise. He went through a lull in mid-May, missing back-to-back cuts in the Players Championship and the AT&T Byron Nelson, but he'd bounced back. He earned a second-place result in the Dean & DeLuca Invitational and finished 13th in the Memorial.

Furthermore, the Dallas native knew this week's tournament would likely require a better score than most editions of the U.S. Open, per Gary D'Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"I don't see par winning the tournament," Spieth said Tuesday. "I see closer to 5- to 10-under. Someone who has very good control of the ball off the tee will have plenty of opportunities to make birdies, given the conditions that we're expecting."

Although other players, led by Fowler, were able to take advantage of those favorable conditions, the 2015 Masters champion couldn't get anything going in Round 1.

Spieth, who started the day on the back nine, actually got rolling in fine fashion with a birdie on the 11th hole to quickly move into red numbers.

The U.S. Open highlighted his early birdie putt:

His inability to convert those type of mid-range looks into birdies became the defining story of his round over the 16 holes that followed, though. His work off the tee and with his irons was solid, but his putter was ice cold for most of the first round.

Ryan Wing of WMTV commented on the missed opportunities:

Spieth couldn't escape the round without dropping a couple shots, which made those failures earlier in the day all the more bothersome. In addition, he had birdie putts on each of the final two holes and couldn't convert either of them to at least salvage an even-par round.

Scott Bell of the Dallas Morning News noted the frustration on the star's second nine:

Mike McAllister of PGA Tour Digital passed along some post-round reaction from Spieth:

Looking ahead, it's too soon to count Spieth out because it's hard to imagine a scenario where the scoring remains as low as it was Thursday. The USGA is going to make things more difficult to ensure the winner doesn't approach 20-under or better as the early returns would suggest.

He's going to need three straight superb rounds in order to make a serious push for the win, though. His ball striking was at a championship level throughout the opening round, which provides a hint of optimism, but his putter will need to heat up to charge up the leaderboard.

Spieth is scheduled to tee off the second round Friday at 3:20 p.m. ET alongside playing partners Dustin Johnson and Martin Kaymer.