By Rahul Banerji
Tyro professionals Akshay Bhatia and Sahith Theegala struggled to come to terms with the Torrey Pines’ demands on the opening day of the 121st US Open in San Diego on Thursday.
The two youngsters were well down the leader-board and in danger of missing the cut that is currently projected to fall at 1-over par 72 after making contrasting starts to the tournament.
In the clubhouse lead on a day fog and bad light cut into playing time were Russel Henley of the US and South African Louis Oosthuizen on 4-under par 67s.
Also in the top 10 were 2017 and 2018 champion Brooks Koepka, Italy’s Molinari bothers Eduardo and Francesco, the in-form and Jon Rahm, and Jaoan superstar Hideki Matsuyama.
Early struggles
Bhatia struggled early with a string of dropped shots, five in his opening nine holes against two birdies.
After the turn too, the lanky left-hander was found wanting though three birdies against two dropped shots limited the damage and had him a 2-over 73 alongside defending Bryson DeChambeau and 13 others.
The California 19-year-old, now in his second year as a professional, came through the qualifiers and will seek to bring in greater accuracy to his long-hitting ways.
For his part, Theegala was actually on top of the leader0-board briefly before his round imploded on Thursday.
At 2-under after birdieing 11, Theegala’s run fell apart. The very next hole cost him three shots, seven on the par-4 12th, and though he pulled one back on 14, worse was to follow.
The 24-year-old, an all-star as an amateur and winner of a string of awards, would drop a further five shots in his final four holes. Theegala is currently 5-over and has left himself a mountain to climb in his second US Open.
Matsuyama lurks
Two months after winning the Masters, Matsuyama was on the move again, adds pgatour.com.
Matsuyama battled to a 2-under 69 to share fifth place with Koepka, Rahm and Xander Schauffele and was two back of clubhouse leaders Henley and Oosthuizen.
Korea’s Si Woo Kim returned a level par 71 which featured five birdies while Sungjae Im was 1-over through 16 holes on the weather-shortened first day.
Sung Kang signed for a 75 while K.H. Lee was on 76, both needing to put in some work to do on Friday to make the cut.
Matsuyama, 29, had three birdies against a lone bogey to put himself in the chase for more major glory.
In April, he became only the second male Asian golfer to win a Major and the first male golfer from Japan to achieve the feat.
“I played really good today and hopefully I can keep up the same momentum,” said Matsuyama, a winner of six PGA Tour titles.
“I love it here. I’m glad it’s a (US Open) venue, but it’s sure was a lot tougher than when we play here at the Farmers (Insurance Open).”
Good form
Making his ninth start at the US Open, Matsuyama’s best is a tied second in 2017 at Erin Hills and he is showing the kind of form that could lead to more success on Sunday.
His breakthrough at Augusta National added to the frenzy for the game in Japan, which is the largest golf market after the US and he knows the weight of a golf-mad nation remains squarely on his shoulders.
“All I can do is my best. It’s good to be a Major title winner, and hopefully that momentum will carry through this week.
“Around the greens is very difficult, especially compared to when we play earlier in the year.
“It is going to be a real difficult test, and there’s some places where you just can’t miss it around the greens.
“It requires you to drive the ball in the fairway and hit greens. Fairway and greens are really important. Par is a good score at the US Open. You just have to avoid the bogeys from time to time,” Matsuyama added.
Interestingly, on the day, Koepka extended his US Open record streak of rounds in the 60s to six to tie Sam Snead for most consecutive sub-par rounds in the tournament’s history with six.
Also read: Indian-Americans starting to make a mark on crowded golfscape
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