Tag: 122nd U.S. Open

Lynch: A standout U.S. Open steels us for turbulent days ahead

The 2022 U.S. Open might be recalled as one of the last majors of “before times.”

BROOKLINE, Mass. — Given the times, there could have been no more fitting venue for the 122nd U.S. Open than The Country Club, one of American golf’s five foundational pillars, associated in perpetuity with a man who did actually grow the game despite never competing for a nickel, and all during these waning weeks of golf as we’ve known it. Appropriate too that the championship was held 10 miles from the site of the Boston Tea Party, when aggrieved merchants rose against an imperial power, though Samuel Adams didn’t require guarantees from a foreign power before signing on to his rebellion.

This Open deserves to be remembered for all the right reasons: the transcendent performance of Matt Fitzpatrick, the magnificent old architecture holding its own against modern power, the enthusiasm of fans in a sports town that had been too long deprived of a major. That’s what it will be remembered for, in time. But it might also be recalled as one of the last majors of “before times,” when the structure of the professional game still resembled what it had been for a half-century or so.

The coming days and weeks threaten a radical upheaval in golf as more players opt for money and comfort over morals and competition, as the PGA and DP World tours scramble to align schedules, purses and priorities to retain the most elite talent, and as the major championships mull their power and how it might be best deployed, if at all. Careers and legacies were shaped at The Country Club. The shape of golf going forward will be molded in nondescript conference rooms and lawyers’ offices, beginning Tuesday morning 96 miles southwest of Brookline in Hartford, Connecticut.

More than 100 players will attend a meeting at which the PGA Tour will share more details on its plans to ring-fence assets (commercial and human) from the Saudis’ fragrant embrace. It won’t be marketed as such—there’ll be talk of upgrading products, growing opportunities, and the like—but that’s what it is. Among the audience will be some Benedict Arnolds who have already chosen to ply their trade for royalty. At 2 p.m. ET, the Tour’s board will be gaveled in to debate and potentially ratify changes that commissioner Jay Monahan hopes will begin guiding his organization out of a perilous situation.

Monahan’s team is still working on and closely guarding the specifics to be presented Tuesday. Likely included is increased cooperation with the DP World Tour (though shy of a merger) and details on three highly lucrative, limited-field tournaments that will eventually anchor a new-look Fall (which Fall, is TBD). The events will be staged in Europe, the Middle East and Asia with purses to rival the LIV Golf riches. One is likely to be held in the Emirates, a development sure to have whatabouters hurdling furniture to tweet claims that it mirrors LIV Golf’s relationship with the Saudi regime. It doesn’t. The Emirates are no one’s idea of democratic beacons, but there’s a difference between working in a country and working for a country, though that’s assuredly a nuance too complex for some.

The PGA Tour isn’t the only party to this conflict we’ll hear from. LIV Golf is expected to announce more player defections ahead of its second event, scheduled for July 1-3 in Portland, Oregon. And higher pitch whining should be expected from players who’ve already bolted, who after years of being lauded now feel unfairly maligned for laundering a butcher’s bloodied bonesaw. Graeme McDowell got a head start on that, bemoaning a “smear campaign” by critics, whose ranks include Jamal Khashoggi’s widow, September 11 families, Amnesty International and many players he once shared a locker room with.

All of this will take place amid the prevailing miasma of rumor and innuendo about who’s jumping and for how much, who’s double-dealing and why, and on whose turf the chief executive of the DP World Tour lays his flaxen head at night. As ever, it will be difficult to discern business from bluster.

In most respects, it has been a very traditional U.S. Open: 156 competitors arrived at a celebrated course in varying states of optimism, all but one of them were ground down to the nubbin, and not one of those contending Sunday afternoon spared a thought or word for the number on the check (it was $3,150,000, enough to impress everyone bar Greg Norman, but then he never cashed a dollar check for finishing first in a major).

This Boston tee party showcased much of what has bound players and fans alike to this game: competition with meaning, championships with stature, and yes, money. But never in the reverse order of importance. In 25 days, we’ll do it again, as golf’s oldest major championship is contested over its oldest course. Given the times, that kind of permanence is something to be grateful for.

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Can local Boston fan favorite Keegan Bradley make good at 2022 U.S. Open?

Eleven years after Bradley won his lone major title in his major debut, can he win in his home state?

At the end of a memorable third round of the 122nd U.S. Open, Keegan Bradley marched toward the horseshoe of seats towering around the 18th green at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts, where the fans rose and showered him with cheers. It’s a moment the born and bred Bay Stater will never forget.

“It was one of the most amazing moments of my entire life,” Bradley said. “I got to feel what it feels like to play in Fenway, to play in the Garden, to play in Gillette Stadium. I felt like a Boston player there.”

Bradley, 36, shot 1-under 69 to improve his 54-hole aggregate score to 2-under 208 and a share of fourth place, just two strokes behind co-leaders Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Eleven years after Bradley won his lone major title in his major debut, can he go from throwing out the first pitch at Fenway Park on Tuesday night to U.S. Open champion? Stranger things have happened at TCC. It’s where Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old amateur who grew up across the street from the course, won the 1913 U.S. Open in arguably the most famous moment in championship history. Bradley didn’t grow up that close to the famed course, but the graduate of Hopkinton High School, was on site the last time a significant golf event was held at TCC, the 1999 Ryder Cup, which the U.S. won in miraculous fashion.

“Everyone ran out on to the green, and I asked my dad if I could run out,” recalled Bradley, who watched much of it from atop his father’s shoulders. “I was a little kid. There’s a crooked tree out here (on 18). My dad said, all right, I’m going to stand right next to this crooked tree, and you go out and come right back. We didn’t have cell phones. You can still see it. It leans a little bit. That’s a fond memory too.”

Bradley, who became one of six golfers to win in his major debut at the 2011 PGA Championship, is competing in his 36th major championship. He’s only finished in the top 10 twice – none since the 2014 U.S. Open. But here he is with a legitimate chance to write his name into Boston sports folklore.

“Out here today felt like I was in a home game, which is something that as a kid, it’s a dream,” Bradley said.

“I haven’t seen Keegan Bradley smiling this much on a golf course in a long time,” noted Paul McGinley on Golf Channel’s Live From the U.S. Open.

Having made three bogeys in his first six holes on Saturday, Bradley turned his fortunes around with a pivotal birdie at the ninth.

“I made the putt, and they went wild. It really gave me a jolt of energy,” he said. “It put me on a path to, all right, we no longer are trying to save this round. Let’s try to get ourselves into contention here, and I did that.”

Bradley has had this major circled on his calendar for years and qualified by vaulting back inside the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking with his tie for second in the Wells Fargo Championship in May. He credited his two young kids for helping keep him take his mind off golf when he’s away from the course. Of son Logan, he said, “He thinks we’re on a vacation because he is — his cousins and his family are here. So I go home. I’ve got to be dad, and that’s sort of, I think, what’s helped me play well this week.”

“My wife sent me this picture as I was basically walking to the tee yesterday of my son completely passed out sleeping on his bed, and I texted her back,” he recalled. “It brings me such calm to know that he has no idea what sort of stress I’m under right now.”

And then there are all the familiar faces in his gallery rooting for the local boy to make good.

“I’ve tried really hard this week to look into the crowd and see the people. Every now and then I’ll look, and I’ll see an aunt or an uncle or a friend, and it’s really, really fun,” he said. “The crowds as usual here in Boston I think are the best in the world.”

Eleven years between victories at majors would put Bradley in some rare company with the likes of Ben Crenshaw (1984 and 1995 Masters) and Tiger Woods (2008 U.S. Open and 2019 Masters). Bradley, winner of four PGA Tour titles, hasn’t hoisted a trophy since the 2018 BMW Championship, but he knocked on the door earlier this year at the Players Championship, finishing fifth, giving him confidence that he’s still capable of winning golf’s biggest events.

“Tomorrow is going to be a tough day. I know that. It just is. It would be if I was playing in Tulsa,” he said. “Playing here, it’s going to be intense, but I’ve had this weird sense of calm over me this week.”

For Bradley, the diehard New England Patriots fan, to win a major just days after the Boston Celtics failed to win a title, well, it would be wicked awesome for him and the Massachusetts faithful.

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‘That was brutal’: Harsh conditions batter players at U.S. Open and Mother Nature isn’t going to let up in the final round

“This is how a U.S. Open should be,” said Justin Thomas after a 73.

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Summer gave way to fall on Saturday as a front moved in on Beantown and left players in the third round of the U.S. Open at The Country Club scrambling to stay warm and struggling to stay relevant on the leaderboard.

After basking in sunshine and temps in the 70s and 80s most of the first two rounds, the sky turned gray; temps dipped into the low 60s; and winds were steady at 15 mph, gusts at 20 mph and there were occasional blasts exceeding 30 mph.

And come Sunday for the final round? It’s going to be wicked cold.

“This is how a U.S. Open should be,” Justin Thomas said after a 73. “It’s very difficult. Par is great score on a lot of holes. Bogeys aren’t going to kill you. We don’t do this very often, and I think it’s very, very fitting and totally acceptable to have this kind of test and this difficult setup for a U.S. Open, and it’s strictly because of conditions.

“The greens are getting firm. It’s windy, and it should be tough.”

There was a lot of turbulence on the leaderboard, too. When the day broke, 23 players were under par. When the final putt was hit, nine were.

The scoring average was just shy of 73.50; about 0.75 strokes higher that the first round and 1.50 higher than the second round. Some of the game’s best players took a beating, including Collin Morikawa, who went from the overnight lead to a tie for 17th with a 77. U.S. Open champion in 2020, Bryson DeChambeau, shot 76. Two-time U.S. Open champion Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed each shot 75.

2022 U.S. Open
Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the first tee during the third round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)

“That was brutal,” Will Zalatoris said. And he shot the low round of the day, a 3-under-par 67 to put him atop the leaderboard with Matt Fitzpatrick. “It took a lot of discipline today. We didn’t aim at a single flag even with some wedges just because you really only have a foot or two to deal with on these greens in some situations. Normally guys out here when they have wedges in their hand, they’re firing at pins no matter what the situation was, but it’s just a lot of patience and giving myself as many 15- to 25-footers as I could.”

Zalatoris said there were huge changes from the days before, pointing out that he had 312 yards to the green for his second shot on the par-5 14th in the second round and, because of the wind, had just 258 on Saturday.

“This place is a beast,” he said. “I think the biggest thing for me (Sunday), obviously, there’s a ton of major champions on this leaderboard, and by no means is the job done. Not even close. But just keep doing what I’m doing. Make sure I just get myself on the green as fast as I can or at least minimize the mistakes.”

The world’s best player wasn’t immune from the conditions as Scottie Scheffler went four consecutive holes without making a par or better for the first time since the second round of The Players in March. The Masters champion and winner of three other tournaments this year shot 71 and is two back.

“There’s a lot of trees on this golf course, and it’s gusty, as well. So it’s definitely unpredictable,” Scheffler said of the wind. “I think that’s what happens when you get these kind of foresty golf courses, and then with the gusts, I mean, that little golf ball is just getting thrown around all over the place.”

Fitzpatrick put on sun cream before the round.

“I was thinking, oh, it’s going to get nice and warm, but quite the opposite by the end of the day,” he said after his 68. “The wind was strong. Wind was really strong. It made it tough. You had to be switched on with the way you were hitting it, where you were missing it.

“I think that was why it was a great challenge, and really happy with my score.”

Anybody will be happy with a 68 in the final round. The high is forecast to be in the high 50s, winds will be steady and gusting with strength (making it seem colder) and sunshine is not in the forecast.

“You can’t play defensive on this golf course. You almost have to play aggressively defensive,” Zalatoris said. “You’ve got to be hitting a lot of shots towards the middle of the greens. Still no cakewalks. 9-, 8-, 7-irons into this place, you can make a mess real fast.

“It’s just going to be really tough tomorrow.”

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U.S. Open: The wind is up and the course is dry. The Country Club is fighting back

The wind has picked up in Brookline, Massachusetts, and The Country Club should play firm this weekend at the U.S. Open.

BROOKLINE, Mass. — The scoring average during Thursday’s opening round of the 122nd U.S. Open at The Country in Brookline, Massachusetts was 72.77, or nearly 3 over but it dropped on Friday to 71.99, or 2 over.

Expect that trend to reverse this weekend.

No water was added to the course overnight or Saturday morning, meaning the golf course will play faster and firmer compared to the first few days.

The wind has shown up outside Boston, too, with flags atop grandstands throughout the course standing tall.

All of that to say this: The third round of the U.S. Open is going to be awesome.

Many have been waiting for the course to show some teeth, and Saturday is set up to be that day.

Wind

No water added to course

The weather

 

Early look at scoring average

Let’s have a day.

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Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and his baby draw atop the stacked leaderboard at the 2022 U.S. Open

“It’s fun for all of us because we all want to compete against the best and beat the best,” said Jon Rahm.

BROOKLINE, Mass. — A week before the 2021 Open Championship, Collin Morikawa was lost as he struggled to finish 71st in the Scottish Open in his first encounter with links golf, befuddled by the sand-based, firm turf that was wrecking the accuracy of the masterful iron player.

Upon his arrival at Royal St. George’s a day later, he switched out a few irons, hunkered down on the practice ground and then won the Claret Jug for his second major championship.

Ahead of this week’s U.S. Open at The Country Club, Morikawa had been adrift during his tour of the PGA Tour, calling it a weird year and knowing he’s the only player in the top 10 in the world ranking who has not won this season. The culprit? His bread-and-butter cut with his irons has been disoriented.

So he’s set up camp for a few weeks now on driving ranges trying to work through it, even adding a small draw – think a 2-yard bend – to his arsenal. And the draw has worked so well he’s put the cut in the trunk for the most part.

“No,” Morikawa said when asked if the baby draw was here to stay. “What it proves is just you can play this game with many shots. I remember the first time I played with Tiger, and he hit every shot that called for it. Pin is on the right; you hit a little cut. Pin is on the left; you hit a little draw.

“I think this is just going to hopefully make my iron play and make my game a little bit more well-rounded rather than just hitting a cut. But this week we’re just going to work with what we have, and right now it’s a little baby draw.”

U.S. Open: Photos | Leaderboard | How to watch

Well, it’s working just fine. Morikawa fashioned a solid 4-under-par 66 under bright skies and amidst calm winds in Friday’s second round to move to 5 under. Well positioned atop the first page of the leaderboard, Morikawa is 36 holes away from winning the third leg of the career Grand Slam, having won the 2020 PGA and last year’s Open.

But he’s only worried about the third round.

“Right now my game feels really good,” said Morikawa, ranked No. 7 in the world. “The last few days is a huge confidence booster for me heading into this weekend, and hopefully we can kind of make some separation somehow.”

It will be tough to separate from those also on the first page of the leaderboard.

Joining Morikawa at 5 under was Joel Dahmen, who has won one PGA Tour event but has looked very steady this week with rounds of 67-68. And the cream has started to rise to the top as No. 3 Rory McIlroy, last week’s winner in Canada, and defending champion, No. 2 Jon Rahm, are among those one shot back. McIlroy has posted 67-69, Rahm 69-67.

Two back is world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (70-67). Three back are No. 9 Sam Burns (71-67) and No. 18 Matt Fitzpatrick (68-70).

“It’s fun for all of us because we all want to compete against the best and beat the best, and it’s obviously a lot more fun for people watching,” Rahm said. “I think it’s great for the game of golf that the highest-ranked players and the best players are up there (on the leaderboard), especially in the tournament where truly the best player ends up winning.”

Last week, McIlroy outdueled reigning PGA champion and No. 5 Justin Thomas and No. 15 Tony Finau over the last 36 holes to win the RBC Canadian Open. He relishes the opportunity once again to go against the best.

“For a little part of the day there, it seemed like I was going to be a few more behind, but I dug deep and played the last eight holes really, really well,” said McIlroy, who had an early double bogey but played his last eight in 3 under. “After I bogeyed 10, I just wanted to try to shoot under par. I had some chances coming up. Just played a really clean eight holes, which was pleasing. Hit fairways, hit greens, gave myself chances. Got myself right back in the tournament.

“You want to go up against the best to try to bring the best out of yourself. And to see Collin and Jon and Scottie and Sam up there and whoever else, that’s what major championship golf is all about. That’s what competition is all about.

I certainly don’t want it to be easy. I want guys to go out and shoot 65 so I have to go and shoot 64. That’s competition, and that’s at the heart of this game.

“I’m excited to be in that mix going into the weekend.”

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Photos: 2022 U.S. Open staff bags from TaylorMade, Callaway and more at The Country Club

Photos: U.S. Open themed staff bags from Brookline

TaylorMade, Callaway, Srixon and other brands have their players decked out in brand new U.S. Open themed staff bags this week at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Some brands have commemorated the 122nd U.S. Open with red, white and blue colors and Boston history. TaylorMade’s Summer Commemorative Staff Bag highlights the strong relationship the area has with American history. TaylorMade drew inspiration from the Boston Tea Party and gave the bag a tea-stained finish to reflect the 300 chests of British Tea that were dumped into the Boston Harbor in 1773.

Take a look at some of the eye-catching staff bags from the 2022 U.S. Open.

We occasionally recommend interesting products, services, and gaming opportunities. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. Golfweek operates independently, though, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Phil Mickelson’s history of misery in U.S. Open continued at The Country Club: ‘I thought I was more prepared than I was’

This week, at The Country Club outside of Boston, was perhaps his most wretched time at a U.S. Open.

BROOKLINE, Mass. – Misery has long been the unwanted 15th club in Phil Mickelson’s bag at a U.S. Open.

Start with the “I’m such an idiot,” conclusion to the 2006 U.S. Open at Winged Foot, when he led by one with one hole to play and blew his drive off a hospitality tent, made a double-bogey 6 and missed a playoff by one shot.

Or go to Merion for the 2013 U.S. Open where he led on three different occasions in the final round but missed two greens with a wedge in his hand on the back nine, including at the 110-yard, par-3 13th, and lost by two.

Then head to Shinnecock for the 2004 U.S. Open, where he led by one with two to play but three-putted from five feet on the penultimate hole for double and lost by two shots.

There were three more runner-ups in the national championship for the People’s Champion, the six in total a record. Add in that it’s the only major the World Golf Hall of Fame member hasn’t won and the pain increases.

But this week, at The Country Club outside of Boston, was perhaps his most wretched time at a U.S. Open.

His week began Monday with a blistering meeting with the media, where he was grilled about his involvement with the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf league that teed off for the first time last week in London. Mickelson is the face of the league, having signed for a reported $200 million to jump from the PGA Tour’s ship. His inflammatory comments criticizing the PGA Tour, commissioner Jay Monahan and the oppressive regime of Saudi Arabia were also brought up.

Phil Mickelson looks on from the 17th green during the second round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

He looked out of sorts, was curt, and it seemed he wasn’t ready to speak at the scheduled time. He often looked downward, paused at length, and deflected as easily as he hits a flop shot.

Refuge, he must have thought as he left the interview area, would be found on the golf course. But the man with a record six runner-up finishes in the national championship, the man who has won six majors and is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, was as lost on the grounds of The Country Club as he was on the podium of the interview area.

He four-putted one green on his way to an opening-round, 8-over-par 78, on his 52nd birthday, no less, then came back with a 73 to finish at 11 over and far from making the cut. He made only three birdies in 36 holes.

“I thought I was more prepared than I was,” Mickelson said as he got ready to get into his courtesy car and head westward to his home in California. “The U.S. Open is the ultimate test. And you don’t really know where your game is until you get tested, and I thought I was little bit closer than I was.”

His work on the greens left him the most despondent.

“I really struggled with putting,” said Mickelson, who finished in a tie for 33rd last week in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event to win $150,000. “I’m struggling with the putter, last week and this week. I feel I’m certainly playing better than I’m scoring and I look forward to working on it.”

Which is why not all was lost this week despite all the misery.

“I enjoyed getting back out here,” said Mickelson, who will play in LIV Golf’s second event in Portland and then in the British Open next month in Scotland. “The thing I enjoyed the most was playing such a historic golf course and having it set up so remarkably. I think the USGA really did a good job. It really showcased this historic place.”

And Mickelson said he won’t take long to get back at it.

“I’m pretty motivated to get back to work,” he said.

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Scott Stallings is ‘home’ at U.S. Open: ‘I’m a confused New England redneck. But I can speak both languages’

Stallings was born in Worcester and lived there until he was three years old before his family moved to Tennessee.

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BROOKLINE, Mass. — You would never know by his voice but Scott Stallings is from Massachusetts.

The professional golfer was born in Worcester and lived there until he was three years old before his family moved to Tennessee. That’s where Stallings developed his southern drawl.

“I’m a confused New England redneck. But I can speak both languages,” Stallings, 37, said. “I can roll the Rs, drag the As and I can take 10 minutes to say one sentence. I always say I learned the language from my mom.”

A three-time winner on the PGA Tour, Stallings is in Brookline this week for the 122nd U.S. Open at The Country Club.

“This one means a little bit more…,” Stallings wrote in a note on social media on May 23. “Not often a major championship is played in New England, so to qualify for this in Massachusetts – where I’m from and where a lot of my family still lives … this is special.”

U.S. Open: Photos | Leaderboard | How to watch

Although he’s excited to be back in Boston, the burly golfer says he’s on a business trip. But that mindset didn’t stop him from indulging in Italian food in the North End or discussing the option of jumping on a duck boat with his kids.

“As much as it is exciting to be here and definitely (is) my favorite city, it’s still work. So that’s first and foremost,” Stallings said. “… At the end of the day it’s a golf tournament. There’s 18 holes start to finish. So put your head down and deal with it.”

Last year, Stallings signed a partnership with NOBULL – a footwear, apparel and accessory brand that also sponsors New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. During practice rounds this week, an entourage of people wearing NOBULL clothing followed Stallings around.

One of those people was Matt O’Keefe, of Massachusetts. O’Keefe and Stallings became friends four years ago through fitness training.

“He helps me with golf and I help him with fitness,” said O’Keefe, who went to Boston College. “He wouldn’t agree with that, but that’s sort of how we met.”

Scott Stallings plays a shot from the rough onto the fifth green during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Photo: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

O’Keefe caddied for Stallings for all three of his practice rounds. The two have become close through fitness – and their love of Boston sports.

“I’m so happy for him,” O’Keefe said. “I know this was one of the top goals he had – especially this year but maybe of his career – to come home because how often do you get to play in a major championship in your hometown?”

One hint that Stallings has ties to Boston is his yardage book. On one side is a red ‘B’ Boston Red Sox logo and the other a New England Patriots logo.

On Tuesday, Stallings and his family toured Fenway Park and attended a Sox game. Stallings posted a photo on social media of his wife and two kids sitting in the Green Monster seats with the caption of “Doesn’t get much better” followed by a red heart and baseball emoji.

Two days later, Stallings teed it up on the 10th hole to start his third Open championship.

He began with a bogey on the 500-yard Par 4 before securing two pars. Stallings then bogeyed the 437-yard Par 4 13th hole before he recovered on the next hole with a birdie. Yet Stallings couldn’t get it going after that and carded three more bogeys to finish with a 4-over-par 74.

“Not my best on the course today, but this is a win,” Stallings posted on Instagram following the round as he referenced a picture of a braid he made in his daughter’s hair. “Better tomorrow @usopengolf.”

Scott Stallings plays his shot from the third tee during the first round of the U.S. Open golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

In 2019, Stallings missed an Open cut with an 80-74 at Shinnecock Hills while he made the cut in 2013 at Merion Golf Club and finished tied for 53rd. This year, he’s hoping to compete on the weekend.

“You obviously have places throughout your season and career that you tend to focus on and want to be ready for and this has definitely been one of them,” Stallings said. “I did the work to get here. We’re not just here to participate. We’re here to compete.”

“This is going to be a wild weekend and I hope Scott is there to experience it because I think the crowd will get around him being a hometown kid,” O’Keefe said.

Stallings starts his second round on Friday at Hole No. 1 with a 1:14 p.m. tee time.

Tommy Cassell is a senior multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at tcassell@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @tommycassell44.

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After facing intense criticism this week, LIV Golf players in U.S. Open got to play golf, with one dangerous player in serious contention

Let’s talk golf.

BROOKLINE, Mass. – LIV Golf dominated the storylines earlier this week at the U.S. Open at The Country Club, the controversial Saudi Arabia-backed, Greg Norman-led rival league causing a stir. To the point that two-time U.S. champion and four-time major winner Brooks Koepka unloaded.

“I’m tired of the conversations. I’m tired of all this stuff,” he said Tuesday. “Like I said, y’all are throwing a black cloud on the U.S. Open. I think that sucks. I actually do feel bad for (the USGA) for once because it’s a sh—y situation.”

Well, LIV Golf isn’t going away.

So, on that note, let’s keep the LIV Golf conversation going by looking at how the league’s players in the U.S. Open field fared in Thursday’s first round.

Yes, let’s talk golf.

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The USGA said there wasn’t enough time to reach a decision on whether or not to ban the players from the national championship, so 15 teed it up; commissioner Jay Monahan indefinitely suspended from the PGA Tour those players who played in the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event last week in London and will continue to suspend any players who join the rival league.

And folks, there are some contenders – which would, of course, lead us back to stories such as those earlier in the week that touched on how the league will impact the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s alleged human rights atrocities.

Coming in as the low LIV guy was Dustin Johnson, the 2016 U.S. Open champion who reportedly got $125 million to sign on with the new league. He shot 2-under-par 68, one shot better than James Piot, the 2021 U.S. Amateur champion.

Patrick Reed, Shaun Norris and Richard Bland each shot 70.

Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open champion who reportedly received north of $150 million to join LIV Golf, shot 71.

Sam Horsfield came home with a 73.

At 74 were Sergio Garcia and Talor Gooch.

At 75 was Kevin Na.

At 76 were Jinichiro Kozuma and Branden Grace, who finished third last week in London in the LIV Golf’s inaugural event.

The other scores were not pretty. Louis Oosthuizen shot 77 and Phil Mickelson, who reportedly got $200 million to sign on and went into seclusion because of derogatory comments about the PGA Tour and the Saudi government, shot 78 on his 52nd birthday.

And Jed Morgan limped home to an 82.

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We followed Phil Mickelson on Thursday and just listened. The reaction? What you might expect

On Thursday, many didn’t seem to care much about Mickelson filling his bank account.

Thursday marked Phil Mickelson’s 52nd birthday.

Thursday also marked his first appearance in a professional event in North America since a missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open.

And Thursday’s first round of the U.S. Open at The Country Club was Mickelson’s first major championship start since the 2021 Open (he shot an 80 in the opening round and missed the cut).

But judging by the enormous throng of fans struggling to peek their heads above a fence to see Lefty warm up on the range, they’re excited to have him back.

Over the last several months, Mickelson’s name and the LIV Golf Series have become synonymous with one another. Without getting into too much detail, he’s somewhat become the poster child for the Saudi-backed, Greg Norman-led, breakaway league.

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He said a lot, and at the same time, said nothing at his Monday press conference earlier this week regarding his move to LIV, and many began to wonder what his reception was going to look (and sound) like from the fans.

On Thursday, many didn’t seem to care much about Mickelson filling his bank account.

“Who cares? He’s getting his money. I would’ve done the same thing,” one fan was overheard saying at the range.

“No brainer,” said another in Mickelson’s range gallery.

Mickelson’s deal with LIV is reportedly worth $200 million. In the league’s debut event last week in London, he tied for 33rd in a 48-man field and made $150,000.

His crowd only got bigger when he stepped to the first tee.

Lefty’s first driver of the day was perfect, but his approach into the green was tugged left and finished underneath a spotter’s camp chair. He’d go on to make bogey.

Before you chalk his opening square up to nerves, his struggles didn’t dissipate after the first.

He made bogeys on Nos. 3 and 5 before four-putting from 12 feet for a double bogey on the par-3 sixth.

On the par-4 12th, just before his fifth shot that nearly went in the hole, we asked one more fan what he thought.

“It’s blood money,” one fan said just before the gallery erupted. “But the people love him!”

Yes, yes they do. Just look at the size of the gallery following the 52-year-old, even after he played his first 11 holes 5 over.

Fans follow Phil Mickelson down No. 12 at The Country Club. (Photo by Riley Hamel / Golfweek)

And once they all settled in around the green, it felt like Mickelson was about to close out the major championship.

Fans surround the 12th green at The Country Club. (Photo by Riley Hamel / Golfweek)

Despite his decision to move on to the LIV Golf Series, fans still love the thumbs-up-giving Mickelson.

If fans with weekend passes are hoping to see the left-handed golfer in person, he’ll need an incredible showing on Friday.

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