What began as a comedy — a splash of seltzer in the face at the Los Angeles Country Club with two players shooting 62s — is suddenly a drama.
“The course has played a little bit easier than everybody thought it would,” Rory McIlroy said on Friday. “But I wouldn’t be surprised on Saturday Sunday to see it bite back.”
The course bites man. It happened more than once on Friday afternoon, when the sun peeked through the gray, the wind picked up and the familiar US Open got underway in earnest.
“The course is starting to firm up, which makes the greens a little bit faster,” said Tony Finau, who followed a 32 on the front with a 37 on the back. “I had some putts from over the hole, which obviously you don’t want to be, but I thought they were absolutely lightning.”
The North Course, which has never hosted a US Open, is ready for the close-up. It didn’t look that way Thursday, however, as gray skies and a little moisture had fairways and greens softer than the United States Golf Assn. had hoped.
But snap judgments were as dangerous as carabiners.
“I didn’t like what they said, how it’s too easy,” said Sam Bennettwho followed a 67 with a 68. “You still had guys shooting way over par. I think it just shows how good a course this is, how it rewards good golf and still punishes bad golf .”
Rory McIlroy hits a tee shot in the first round at the US Open on Thursday. “The course has played a little bit easier than everybody thought it would,” he said Friday. “But I wouldn’t be surprised on Saturday Sunday to see it bite back.”
(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Asked to compare Friday’s setup to Thursday’s, Padraig Harrington said: “Hard, hard. Much harder. They’ve lengthened the golf course significantly. Tightened the greens up a bit. I don’t know if they’ve changed the pin positions from, what they had in mind, but with the longer golf course and the firmer greens, those sticks were definitely difficult.”
Heading into the major, a common theme was that LACC would have holes on both ends of the spectrum — some easier than a typical Open, some more difficult. And that’s how it’s starting to look.
Rickie Fowler, who opened with a scorching 62, had a wobbly, Mr. Toad’s of a round Friday with eight birdies, six bogeys and four pars.
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Wyndham Clark tees off the seventh tee during the second round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Austin Eckroat, left, and Wyndham Clark walk through the rough on the fourth hole during the second round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Wyndham Clark tees off on the second green during the second round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Joaquin Niemann hits from the rough near the sixth green during the second round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Alex Noren hits from a greenside bunker on the sixth hole during the second round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 16. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Tony Finau hits from a greenside bunker on the 16th hole during the first round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler consults with his caddy before teeing off the sandy rough on the ninth hole during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Despite the gloomy weather, spectators walk along the North Course at Los Angeles Country Club during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Jason Day hits from a greenside bunker on the eighth hole during the first round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler walks a bridge to the ninth green during the first round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. Fowler shared the lead with Xander Schauffele after the first round after a stunning eight-under-par 62. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler tees off from the rough on the ninth hole during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Golfers Gary Woodland, Corey Connors and Adam Scott check the slope of the green and their putting lines on the 14th hole during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Rickie Fowler, third from left, walks with Jason Day to the seventh green during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Brooks Koepka, left, and Rory McIlroy walk up to the ninth green during the first round of the US Open. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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An excited golf fan tries to get an autograph from Xander Schauffele as he walks to the 17th tee box during a practice round at Los Angeles Country Club on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Golfers line up their putts on the 11th hole during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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June gloom envelops the LA skyline as the first round of the US Open gets underway at the Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Rory McIlroy tees off the 16th tee during the first round of the US Open on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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With the downtown LA skyline in the background, Rory McIlroy walks the 14th fairway during the first round of the US Open on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Spectators walk onto the court near a grandstand during the first round of the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 15. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Golf fans watch Rory McIlroy putt on the second hole during a practice round for the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
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Golf fans cross a bridge over Wilshire Boulevard to exit the course after participating in a practice round for the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club on June 14. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“It’s not that easy out there,” Fowler said. “Yeah, I’ve made a lot of birdies and it can be done out there. Until you’ve been on the course or been out there hitting shots, it’s still a very tough test.
“Is it the hardest US Open? No. I think it’s a good, fair, tough test. … The fairways look very wide because yes, the cut areas are wide, but where to hit it is very small .So the golf course is big and open but plays very close.
“The greens, you can’t see how much slope there is and how thick everything is around. You hit the fairways and you hit the greens, yes, you can score, but you get out of position and it’s going to eat you up.”
