Tour News
5 Things We Learned on Day 1 of the 2017 U.S. Open
America’s heartland debuted its first U.S. Open course today in Wisconsin. Erin Hills, the course that was built for this moment, was a gracious hostess. To the delight of the fans and golfers, she offered birdies galore.
Many familiar names occupy rungs of the leaderboard. From our seat in the gallery, we saw a lot, but we’ll keep it to the five things we learned on Day 1 of the 2017 U.S. Open.
1. Dick Fowler, P.I., Wants His Major Title Now
Recapping @RickieFowler's first-round 65 in under two minutes. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/jKZRUqfncw
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2017
Rickie Fowler (aka Dick Fowler, P.I., from the early Farmers Insurance commercials), is so over the other guys (Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Bubba Watson) winning majors before him. He wants his Open, now!
On Thursday, Fowler hit the Erin Hills course in a marquee morning threesome with Jon Rahm and Hideki Matsuyama, and he zipped seven birdies into his suitcase. His 65 held the lead all day, and it gave him a one-shot cushion over Paul Casey heading into Friday’s afternoon round.
2. Xander Schauffele Is This Year’s Andrew Landry
Xander Schauffele joins the party at 5 under with this pure birdie putt on No. 5. https://t.co/xGcDH9jET6
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2017
Without a doubt, the only German-French-Japanese-Taiwanese golfer in the field at Erin Hills is this year’s outta-nowhere guy. In 2016 at Oakmont, it was Andrew Landry, who led for not just one, not just two, but three rounds before finishing in a tie for 15th place.
Schauffele was a mildly-decorated amateur golfer before his only year on the Web.com Tour in 2016. He earned his promotion in the tour playoffs, but he played Round 1 at Erin Hills like a wiser sage. The Californian stood at 2-under as he turned to his second nine, the front.
He played error-free golf there as well, adding four more birdies to tie Casey, one back of Fowler. Last year I swore up and down that Landry would not win, and he almost proved me wrong. I’ll say the same about Schauffele, and I hope that he sticks around even longer.
3. Birdie Runs Are Out There… Just Ask Adam Hadwin
????????????????????????@ahadwingolf is 4 under after six consecutive birdies on Nos. 18-5. #USOpen https://t.co/Wrrz2yyns6
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2017
Six loonies in a row for Adam Hadwin, the 2017 Valspar Champion, on Day 1 of the U.S. Open. Hadwin’s second to the par-4 5th hole was two rotations from an eagle. Although his run ended with a bogey at No. 6 (Hadwin began his round on the back nine), he recorded his seventh birdie of the day on No. 8 to return to 4-under.
4. Erin Hills Is No Pushover
Erin Hills, meet 2011 #USOpen champion @McIlroyRory. https://t.co/lvLPCf9AgC
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2017
Despite the low numbers (more than 40 golfers broke par on Day 1), the course did not play easily for everyone. Waaaaay down the leader board, somewhere between amateurs Scott Harvey (6-over) and Walker Lee (9-over) were (gasp) Rory McIlroy at 6-over and Jason Day at 8-over.
Day’s round was one of unbelievable inconsistency. After opening with birdie at the first, he tripled No. 4 and birdied No. 7. Not terrible, plenty of holes left. Then came three bogeys and another triple over the next four holes.
Like Day, McIlroy started well. He drove the green at the par-4, second hole and drained a long putt for eagle to reach 2-under. Two bogeys on the outward nine, followed by two more on the early holes of the inward half, made his predicament tricky. His unfortunate response was doubles on Nos. 15 and 17 to lose all contact with the leaders. Oh, Billy Horschel joined them at 7-over after opening his round with a quadruple-bogey 9.
5. Sergio Garcia May Finally Have The Patience For Majors
Masters champion @TheSergioGarcia is off to a quite a start at the #USOpen. https://t.co/UVjWpFxb7M
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2017
Yet another golfer who started strong (an eagle at No. 1), Garcia made three bogeys in the middle of his round. Pre-Masters title, Sergio might have cited the wrath of hobgoblins and leprechauns, but the major-champion Sergio is different. The Spaniard birdied two of his final four holes to finish in red numbers at 2-under.
Golf needs a late-30s Garcia to go on a Mickelson-like, Hoganesque run in the majors. He is the epitome of the late bloomer, despite blooming early at different levels of expertise. And wins at the first two majors of 2017 would certainly make the jobs of golf’s pundits a lot more interesting!
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 RBC Heritage
GolfWRX is on site this week at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island for the RBC Heritage. Plenty of golfers who competed in the Masters last week will be making the quick turnaround in the Lowcountry of South Carolina as the Heritage is again one of the Tour’s Signature Events.
We have general albums for you to check out, as well as plenty of WITBs — including Justin Thomas and Justin Rose.
We’ll continue to update as more photos flow in from SC.
Check out links to all our photos, below.
General Albums
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Monday #2
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #1
- 2024 RBC Heritage – Tuesday #2
WITB Albums
- Justin Thomas – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Rose – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Chandler Phillips – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Nick Dunlap – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Thomas Detry – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Austin Eckroat – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Jason Day – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Will Zalatoris – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Patrick Cantlay – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Ludvig Aberg – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Collin Morikawa – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Sam Burns – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Stephen Jaeger – WITB – 2024 RBC Heritage
Pullout Albums
- Wyndham Clark’s Odyssey putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- JT’s new Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Justin Thomas testing new Titleist 2 wood – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey putter with triple track alignment aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Scotty Cameron The Blk Box putting alignment aid/training aid – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Cameron putter – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Odyssey Ai One Eleven T putters – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Christian Bezuidenhout – testing new Callaway Ti 340 mini driver – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Rory McIlroy testing the new TaylorMade BRNR Mini Driver Copper – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Xander Schauffele testing the Callaway Ti 340 mini driver & the DUW – 2024 RBC Heritage
- Byeong Hun An, two new L.A.B. Golf putter builds with “T” alignment – 2024 RBC Heritage
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Valero Texas Open
GolfWRX is on site this week at the Valero Texas Open.
The event has been around since 1922, making it one of the oldest on the PGA Tour calendar. Over the years, it’s been held at a variety of courses across the Lone Star State, but it’s found its home at TPC San Antonio in recent years. Some of the biggest names in golf have taken home the title here, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino, and Ben Crenshaw.
GolfWRX has its usual assortment of general galleries, WITBs and special pull-out albums. As always, we’ll continue to update the links below as more photos come in from TPC San Antonio.
General Albums
WITB Albums
- Ben Taylor – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Paul Barjon – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Joe Sullivan – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Wilson Furr – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Willman – SoTex PGA Section Champ – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Jimmy Stanger – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Rickie Fowler – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Harrison Endycott – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Vince Whaley – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Kevin Chappell – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Christian Bezuidenhout – WITB (mini) – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Scott Gutschewski – WITB – 2024 Valero Texas Open
Pullout Albums
- Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Ben Taylor with new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Swag cover – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Greyson Sigg’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Davis Riley’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Josh Teater’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hzrdus T1100 is back – – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Mark Hubbard testing ported Titleist irons – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Tyson Alexander testing new Titleist TRS 2 wood – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Hideki Matsuyama’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Valero Texas Open
- Cobra putters – 2024 Valero Texas Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Tour Photo Galleries
Photos from the 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
GolfWRX is on site in the Lone Star State this week for the Texas Children’s Houston Open.
General galleries from the putting green and range, WITBs — including Thorbjorn Olesen and Zac Blair — and several pull-out albums await.
As always, we’ll continue to update as more photos flow in. Check out links to all our photos from Houston below.
General Albums
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Monday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #1
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #2
- 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open – Tuesday #3
WITB Albums
- Thorbjorn Olesen – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ben Silverman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jesse Droemer – SoTX PGA Section POY – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- David Lipsky – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Martin Trainer – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Zac Blair – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Jacob Bridgeman – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Trace Crowe – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Daniel Berger – WITB(very mini) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Chesson Hadley – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Callum McNeill – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Rhein Gibson – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Patrick Fishburn – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Peter Malnati – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Raul Pereda – WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Gary Woodland WITB (New driver, iron shafts) – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Padraig Harrington WITB – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
Pullout Albums
- Tom Hoge’s custom Cameron – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Piretti putters – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Ping putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Kevin Dougherty’s custom Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Bettinardi putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Cameron putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Erik Barnes testing an all-black Axis1 putter – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
- Tony Finau’s new driver shaft – 2024 Texas Children’s Houston Open
See what GolfWRXers are saying in the forums.
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Shi Suk Dik
Jun 17, 2017 at 2:47 am
You wrong again
Tom54
Jun 16, 2017 at 2:07 pm
I find it hard to believe Rory said his poor driving Thur was cause of a little rust are you kidding me? He said he had played 8-9 rounds lately. Maybe he’s just not the awesome driver that everyone touts him to be. He should never have left Titleist in my opinion. So much for 60yd fairways huh?
Red Scotty
Jun 16, 2017 at 10:03 am
Nice work Ronald. Personally I love having the US open back. Set up went missing for a few years and I think some guys forgot how to take medicine and get back in play. Bring on more today !
Ps. Hadwin may have 3 jiggled to break his birdie streak but you have to love the run he put on the birdie effort from downtown trying to make it 7 in a row – love it
carl spackler
Jun 16, 2017 at 8:28 am
and the pros were all complaining about how tough the course was and the rough was too high. keep it in the wide (by tour standards) fairways as you can easily shoot in the 60’s
Ronald Montesano
Jun 15, 2017 at 10:32 pm
Depends on the weather. If the weather in the afternoon is calm, then I don’t think he goes higher than 70.
If the USGA decides to shave the greens, however, it will put pressure on everyone’s game.
Travis
Jun 15, 2017 at 9:34 pm
#6. Tour Pros are still wildly inaccurate off the tee…
Ronald Montesano
Jun 15, 2017 at 10:29 pm
Ha ha…you’re right, and they don’t care. Get it down there long and spin a short iron.