Justin Rose stood over a putt to tie a record set by Tiger Woods, who was standing nearby.
The 38-year-old Englishman sank that 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole to shoot 6-under-par 65 and took a one-stroke lead over Rickie Fowler, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Xander Schauffele and Aaron Wise after one round of the 119th U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links www.pebblebeach.com.
The fourth-ranked Rose birdied the last three holes and equaled the record low of 65 in six U.S. Opens at Pebble that Woods, who was in his threesome, shot in the first round in 2000 on the way to a 15-stroke victory.
“I knew because I was watching earlier when Rickie had a putt on the last hole to tie the record,” said Rose, the 2013 U.S. Open champion who needed only 22 putts in his round. “I thought it would be cool to do it in front of the great man himself.
“It’s the U.S. Open and you have to manage your game and keep the ball below the hole. It was nice to shoot a good score like that and feel like I still have a little extra in the tank.”
Oosthuizen, who captured the 2010 Open Championship at St. Andrews, holed out for an eagle from 95 yards at No. 11 and knocked in a 45-foot bunker shot while finishing out his 66 on the ninth hole.
The 11th-ranked Fowler, from Murrieta, missed that 12-footer that would have tied Woods’ record and settled for another 66, which 10th-ranked Schauffele, of La Jolla and San Diego State, equaled with an 11-foot eagle putt on the last hole, while Wise, of Lake Elsinore, finished with the same score thanks to four birdies on the back nine.
Scott Piercy hit a brilliant approach shot to set up a one-foot eagle putt on the sixth hole in a 67 and is tied for sixth with Nate Lashley, who played bogey free in his 67.
Third-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland carded a 68 and is tied for eighth with seventh-ranked Francesco Molinari of Italy, Henrik Stenson of Sweden, Sepp Straka of Austria, Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, Gary Woodland, Chez Reavie and Chesson Hadley.
Top-ranked Brooks Koepka, trying to become the second player to win three straight U.S. Opens, totaled 69 and is in a tie for 16th that includes ninth-ranked Bryson DeChambeau of Clovis, while fifth-ranked Woods, a three-time U.S. Open champion, is tied for 28th at 70.
Second-ranked Dustin Johnson, the 2016 U.S. Open champ, is tied for 40th after a 71, while Phil Mickelson, a five-time winner of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am who can complete the Career Grand Slam with a victory this week, shot 72 and is tied for 58th, and seventh-ranked Justin Thomas totaled 73 and is in a tie for 77th that includes Patrick Cantlay of Los Alamitos and UCLA.
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