Bob MacIntyre enjoys US Open 'crazy' golf as J.J. Spaun's Oakmont effort is hailed as 'unbelievable'
Scot ranks his opening day’s work in 125th US Open as ‘up there in the top ten’
There was nothing Spaun-y about it. Not when you card a bogey-free round on the ‘Beast’ and beat the field average by no less than nine shots. Take a bow J.J. Spaun, who took pride of place on the opening morning of the 125th US Open at Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania, but hats off, too, to Bob MacIntyre for an effort he reckoned had ranked in his “top ten rounds”.
In just his second start in the USGA event, Spaun, who lost to Rory McIlroy in a play-off in The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass earlier in the year, produced what could only be described as an astonishing performance - MacIntyre described it as “unbelievable” - on the outskirts of Pittsburgh.
Set on his way by a chip-in birdie at the tenth - his opening hole - the 34-year-old Californian carded a four-under-par 66, which was his best score in a major and matched Andrew Landry’s lowest opening score in this event here in 2016.
Spaun’s card also included gains at the 12th, 16th and 17th while he also dug deep at times, notably when holing a good par putt at the eighth to stay blemish-free.
“I wouldn’t believe them because I had no idea what to expect teeing off this morning,” he said of how he’d have reacted if he’d been told how his day would pan out before teeing off. “As far as history here. Never being here. I mean, this is only my second US Open and maybe that kind of freed me up where I didn’t really have to worry about certain expectations. But, you know, I’ll take a bogey-free 66 at the US Open.”
In his only previous appearance in this event, Spaun missed the cut in 2021 at Torrey Pines following rounds of 77-75. He’d shown with his performance in The Players Championship, though, that he’s blossomed as a player in recent seasons.
“I wouldn’t say I had a strategy,” he admitted with a smile in an interview with Sky Sports Golf. “Well, I guess my strategy was to take what the course gave me. For the most part, I kept the ball in front of me and didn’t hit too many squirrelly shots and scrambled and putted well and that’s kind of the recipe you need to have a bogey-free round at the US Open.”
The early chip in had been a big bonus. “Yeah, this was not the spot to be,” he said of missing the green on the right and finding the thick fringe. “But I hit a perfect chip and predicted the lie just right - it was a great way to start the morning with a little chip in when I was hoping just to get it up and down.”
As for making a birdie-2 at the 16th, he said: “It was actually a perfect club. I tried to hit a really solid 4-iron. I knew that if I hit it on the screws, it would be the right number and it landed 15 feet short and tricked out to five feet. It was a pretty simple-looking birdie. But I don’t want to get ahead of myself by saying anything was simple out here.”
Just ask McIlroy, who was out in two under but then limped home in six over, leaving the Masters champion having to settle for a 74, one shot more than defending champion and two-time winner Bryson DeChambeau.
McIlroy’s first drive of the day - at the par-5 12th - went 392 yards and, after missing the cut in last week’s RBC Canadian Open, the world No 2 was ticking along nicely until he got into all sorts of bother at the par-5 fourth and did well to limit the damage to a bogey.
The wind, though, had been well and truly blown out of his sails by the time he got done, having followed that by taking bogeys at both the sixth and seventh then rubbing salt into the wounds by running up a double-bogey 5 at the eighth, where a flop shot from the thick rough didn’t reach the green.
In a group of lefties - his playing partners were American duo Akshay Bhatia and Matt McCarty - MacIntyre opened with a par-70, producing what was probably his best round so far in this event as the Oban man underlined his status these days as world top-20 player.
A dropped shot at the second could easily have put him on the back foot but, playing really nicely indeed, that damage was repaired as a 30-footer fell at the par-4 seventh before shaving the edge of the hole from a similar distance at the next.
A bogey at the ninth meant he was out in 35, but that was a decent effort given that the front nine was playing to average of three under in morning wave, and he was back to level par again after a great up and down from a sticky spot just short of the par-5 12th.
Holing from 11 feet for his birdie, that saw him climb into the top ten at a time when just eight players were under par. It got even better for the 28-year-old when he then rolled in a 30-footer for a birdie at the 15th and, though finishing with a bogey always leaves a sour taste, this one was probably less painful than normally would be the case given the brutal test players are facing in the event’s tenth edition at this venue.
MacIntyre: ‘Almost as good as I’ve got’
“Honestly, I don't know if it's good or bad to say we're level par, but that's almost as good as I've got,” admitted MacIntyre. “Yeah, delighted with that. Best level par round of my life. I felt I played absolutely beautifully off the tee, with the real punishment, I drove it as good as I can drive the golf ball.
“I wasn't really hitting long drives. I wasn't trying to hit long drives. I was just trying to stay in the short stuff and manufacturing shots, whether it was 3-wood, whether it was driver, just try to hit the shape that I needed to find the fairway. I thought I done that great, apart from 18.”
Asked where he ranked his effort, he added: “That's up there, up there in the top 10 of any rounds that I've played. It is just so hard, Honestly, every shot you're on a knife edge. But I absolutely did (have fun) because I like hitting crazy shots.”
MacIntyre had been tipped as a possible winner this week by fellow Scot Colin Montgomerie, who lost in a play-off to Ernie Els here in 1994. “You shoot four level-par rounds, you're walking away with a medal and a trophy. I'm sure I'd take that,” said the current Scottish No 1 with a smile.
Others to make strong starts included two-time winner Brooks Koepka, who signed for a 68 that included an eagle at the fourth, and 2021 champion Jon Rahm, who emulated that feat in his 69.
On a day when he didn’t fire on all cylinders, world No 1 Scottie Scheffler had to settle for a 74, leaving him alongside McIlroy in a group that also included Matt Fitzpatrick and Wyndham Clark, the winners in 2022 and 2023 respectively.
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