Rickie Fowler, seeking his first major title, shot a record-tying 7-under-par 65 to take a one-stroke lead over Paul Casey of England and Xander Schauffele in the U.S. Open after one round at Erin Hills in Hartford, Wis.
Fowler’s bogey-free round equaled the best score in relation to par in tournament history, set when Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf both shot 7-under 63 in the first round at Baltusrol in 1980.
“I’d rather be remembered for something that’s done on Sunday,” said the ninth-ranked Fowler, whose best results in majors were ties for second in the U.S. Open and Open Championship in 2014. “It would be nice to get rid of that (no major titles) at some point. I’m not saying that this is the week or isn’t the week. I like the way this golf course suits me and we’re off to a good start, but there’s definitely a lot of golf to be played.
“It’s just nice to go out and actually execute the game plan and not think about, ‘What if that one went in,’ or anything like that. Yeah, you’re going to miss putts, you’re not going to make everything so I’m definitely happy with the start.”
Casey eagled the first hole and added six birdies in a 66 that Schauffele equaled with a bogey-free round, while Brooks Koepka totaled 67 and is tied for fourth with Tommy Fleetwood of England and left-hander Brian Harman.
Kevin Na of Diamond Bar recorded a 68 and is tied for seventh with Patrick Reed, Marc Leishman of Australia and Adam Hadwin of Canada.
None of the top 17 players in the standings have won a major championship.
Masters champion Sergio Garcia, ranked seventh in the world, is tied for 18th at 70, but the rest of the top 10 in the world did not fare so well.
Fifth-ranked Jordan Spieth and eighth-ranked Alex Noren of Sweden are tied for 61st at 73, fourth-ranked Hideki Matsuyama and sixth-ranked Henrik Stenson are tied for 82nd at 74, top-ranked defending champion Dustin Johnson is tied for 102nd at 75, 10th-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain is tied for 114th at 76, second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland is tied for 143rd at 78 and third-ranked Jason Day of Australia is tied for 151st at 79.
