After (almost) 18 holes, the 2021 U.S. Open has created a delightful leaderboard at Torrey Pines. There’s Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka. There’s even the local boy Xander Schauffele in the mix. And that’s just players from the top 15 in the world ranking.
It made the day-long viewing session a lot of fun Thursday, even into the night with sunset golf on the west coast. And it’ll make Friday just as entertaining when things get started in Southern California. Here are five things to know about the 2021 U.S. Open before Friday’s play begins.
1. The first round isn’t quite finished
Thanks to a very foggy Thursday morning in La Jolla, there was about a 2-hour delay in play before the first round began. Will that happen again Friday? It’s totally plausible. All it meant was that most of the field got their first rounds in. And when it became clear that dusk was falling on the course, it even inspired some of the pros to play quicker so they could sign that scorecard officially Thursday evening.
Thirty-six players were unable to finish their first rounds, and one of them is actually leading the tournament. Louis Oosthuizen quit at four under with a share of the lead and one-and-a-half holes remaining. He’ll be up extra early Friday to begin again at 6:50 a.m. local time.
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2. Torrey isn’t playing favorites
As with any event on the coast, Mother Nature can play a significant factor with who gets the better weather draw. Will it be early Thursday-late Friday times that benefit most? Or the inverse? This week, we are not likely to see any true benefit.
Thursday’s early groupings saw the wind pick up toward the end of their rounds, while the later groups saw the wind die down toward the end of theirs. A handful of groups filed scores in the 60s from the morning tee times, and then a wave of scores in the 60s followed late Thursday afternoon. So in sum, Mother Nature isn’t doing much to the field, and it’s better that way.
3. Mr. Major will have to wait
Brooks Koepka is doing it again. He’s in contention after yet another solid round in a major, despite missing the cut with a balky putter last week in South Carolina. But since it’s a major, of course Koepka’s putter is working just fine. He gained 2.99 strokes on the field on the greens alone Thursday, and later pinpointed that as the part of his game he was happiest with. You can’t blame him.
Koepka will have to wait and watch the golf Friday morning, though. He won’t tee off until after 4 p.m. Eastern time, by which we’ll have a much different clubhouse lead. Will it be better than the four under round Russell Henley shot Thursday? Probably, but not by much. That’s what Koepka will set his sights on.
4. Rory got more rest — what will it mean?
Part of the late-round heroics brought on by darkness was fast play from the professionals. The quandary was clear: play quicker and in less light to finish your round, or play at your normal pace and come back early Friday morning to complete the first round. Rory McIlroy made his decision pretty obvious.
McIlroy and Dustin Johnson had Justin Rose jump up to the 18th tee to hit his tee shot before officials blew the horn signaling the end of play. Once Rose started the hole, the rest of the group could finish it if they wanted to. They definitely wanted to. And McIlroy even made birdie in the dusk, carding a one-under 70 to put him squarely in the hunt after one round.
He already knew he’d be getting up pretty early for a 7:51 a.m. tee time, but that’s apparently much better than a 6:50 a.m. restart. What will that extra hour be worth? We’ll see early on Friday.
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5. Cut watch could get dicey for some
As always, Friday brings down the hammer. And the cut cares for no one.
With any luck the second round will finish Friday afternoon, and with it will come the cut, trimming the field for the weekend. Right now, a handful of big names are in danger of going home early. First and foremost, there’s Jordan Spieth.
Spieth struggled early and often Thursday, making just one birdie en route to a 77. According to the folks at DataGolf, the cutline will likely fall in the three or four over range. So Spieth has some work to do.
Other names concerning themselves with that cutline number: Collin Morikawa (+4), Will Zalatoris (+4), Phil Mickelson (+4), Max Homa (+5), Justin Rose (+7) and Webb Simpson (+8).