Andrew Landry leads an unfinished first round at U.S. Open
Reporting from OAKMONT, Pa. — Andrew Landry was five minutes from freedom. Five minutes from being able to retire to a warm, dry room and reflect on the first round that was and could have been in the 116th U.S. Open.
Then the obnoxious horn blared for a third time Thursday at Oakmont Country Club, the final brakes put on a rain- and lightning-plagued day, and if Landry had raced to rip the offending instrument from an official’s hand, who could blame him?
Landry — winless on the PGA Tour, ranked 624th in the world, playing in his first major — striped a beautiful approach to 10 feet on the difficult par-four ninth hole – his last of the day. Even a two-putt par would have made the Texan the clubhouse leader at three under par, two better than the best finishing score of 69 by amateur Scottie Scheffler.
But as the group approached the green, the horn blew, and Landry’s shoulders slumped, an obvious expression of dejection on his face. The weather foiled him again.
“I was trying to get it in,” Landry said. “We were trying really hard.”
What could have been an incredible day for the 28-year-old became merely a very good one.
Landry — all 5 feet 7, 150 pounds of him — was the bantamweight winning rounds on the scorecard against the heavyweight champ of major courses, though in Oakmont’s defense, its defenses were compromised by overnight rain that softened and slowed the treacherous greens.
With birdies on five of his first 13 holes — including three straight at Nos. 2 through 4 — Landry got to five under par.
Then came the second delay. Landry had to wait to try a 10-foot birdie on the fifth hole. He missed. He had another 10-foot birdie try on the sixth. Missed.
Clearly, Landry lost whatever otherworldly focus he’d tapped into, and two bogeys followed. His 10-footer at the last would have carried him out on a positive vibe.
Now Landry has to return to Oakmont at 7:30 a.m., Eastern time, on Friday to roll one or two putts and then wait who knows how long to tee off again.
It’s going to be that crazy for nearly everybody at “Soakmont,” the moniker resurrected on Thursday by the club’s legendary longtime head pro Bob Ford.
This isn’t close to the first time weather has affected the nine U.S. Opens played here. In fact, more times than not it has. Ford said lightning struck the sprinkler controls before the final round in 1973, causing the greens to be overwatered before Johnny Miller shot his record closing 63.
“Not taking anything away from Johnny,” Ford was quick to add on the Fox broadcast.
The rough patch of weather was painful for the U.S. Golf Assn. because it came early in the first round, ensuring the tournament won’t get back to a normal schedule until at least Saturday. Only nine players finished, leaving 69 still on the course.
The afternoon wave of 78, which included world No. 1 Jason Day and Phil Mickelson, never got started.
It’s good fodder for debate on who got the better draw. The morning players had to withstand the starts and stops, but they got a softer course. The afternoon golfers still to play might face harder, drier conditions.
“Hopefully, we’ll get some good conditions in the morning, and those other guys have to play 36 holes in a row at a U.S. Open, which isn’t easy,” said defending Jordan Spieth.
Spieth, standing at one over through 11 completed holes, dealt with his own frustrations. He expressed his displeasure at not being allowed to warm up after the first delay, and when the second horn sounded it was immediately after he hit into the bunker on the 17th hole called “Big Mouth.”
Spieth jawed with animation at the USGA rules official walking with the group and kicked his bag.
Still, when Spieth returned after the delay, he blasted a beautiful bunker shot — probably aided by the wet sand — and salvaged a par.
Spieth’s closest peers in the world golf rankings got off to worse starts. No. 3 Rory McIlroy had hit only seven of 13 greens in falling to four over. No. 5 Rickie Fowler continued his bad string of opening rounds in majors when, after an opening birdie, he made one double-bogey and five bogeys over the next 12 holes to be at six over through 12.
Almost lost in the weather chatter was the performance by Scheffler, a 19-year-old college sophomore who only a couple of weeks ago battled with his Texas team in the NCAA championships, the Longhorns falling to Oregon in the match-play final.
Scheffler, from Dallas, defeated NCAA individual champion Aaron Wise of Oregon in the final and a few days later emerged from the U.S. Open Sectional in Columbus, Ohio. He was part of a six-man playoff for five spots.
Scheffler’s 69 was four shots better than the next-best completed round of 73 by Derek Fathauer.
“The experience is — – I can’t even describe it right now,” Scheffler said. “I didn’t really let the magnitude of what’s going on kind of get to me. Once we got on the course, I was fine. But I’m glad we got here a little early this week to kind of get used to everything, because this is something I’ve never experienced before.”
tod.leonard@sduniontribune.com
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