Qualifier Andrew Landry was at 3-under-par after 17 holes and held a one-stroke lead over Bubba Watson and Danny Lee of New Zealand when inclement weather halted play for the third and final time in the first round of the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa.
Landry, who was 5-under and held a three-shot lead a little earlier, was coming off his first two bogeys of the round on the eighth and ninth holes, but was looking over a 10-foot birdie putt at No. 9 when the horn blew.
“I was trying to get it in,” said the 28-year-old Landry, who won the 2015 Cartagena de Indias at Karibana Championship on the Web.com Tour and is No. 624 in the World Golf Rankings. “We were trying really hard, but it’s hard, you know, when you’ve got a couple 60-footers out here, and it’s the U.S. Open. So you’ve just got to stay patient with it.
“I just kind of kept to myself (during the delays), went to the locker room, stayed by myself, talked with my caddie a little bit, and turned my phone off. It was good to just kind of be by myself and just take it all in.
” … I’ve hit the ball really well and just made a bunch of putts and just kept it going.”
Watson, the two-time Masters champion, had five birdies and three bogeys through 14 holes, while Lee was bogey-free after 13.
Amateur Scottie Scheffler, a junior at Texas, made two late birdies in a 1-under 69 and was two strokes back in a tie for fourth with Kevin Streelman, who had played 16 holes, Lee Westwood of England, who was through 13, and Harris English, who finished 12.
Martin Kaymer of Germany, who won the 2014 U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, was even-par through 13 holes and tied for eighth with Gregory Bourdy (16 holes) of France, Daniel Berger (15), Romain Wattell (15) of France, Matt Fitzpatrick (13) of England, Russell Knox (12) of Scotland, Shane Lowry (11) of Ireland and Zach Johnson (11).
Defending champion Jordan Spieth, No. 2 in the world, was 1-over after 11 holes and in a tie for 16th that included Matt Kuchar (14), U.S. Amateur champion Bryson DeChambeau (11), James Hahn (15) of Alameda and Cal, and Marc Leishman (14) of Australia.
Third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland was 4-over through 13 holes and in a tie for 38th that included Masters champion Danny Willett of England, who had played 12, and Kevin Chappell of Fresno and UCLA, who was through 14.
Top-ranked Jason Day of Australia was among several big names who never hit a shot, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott of Australia and former U.S. Open champions Webb Simpson (2012), Ernie Els (1994 and 1997), Geoff Ogilvy (2006) of Australia, Angel Cabrera (2007) of Argentina, Graeme McDowell (2010) of Northern Ireland and Justin Rose (2013) of England.
