U.S. Open: Justin Rose matches record, leads by one

Justin Rose finished with three birdies in a row to match the lowest ever round in a U.S. Open at Pebble Beach to take a one-shot lead after round 1

Justin Rose, who won the U.S. Open at Merion in 2013, set the pace after the first round at Pebble Beach with a six-under 65 to lead a congested leaderboard by one shot.

Rose took advantage of the relatively benign course and weather conditions on Thursday, making his first birdie of the day at the fourth before following up with an eagle at six and a further birdie at the seventh to get to within one shot of the clubhouse target set by Rickie Fowler. 

His only dropped shot of the day came at the next, and he was quick to admit that he scrambled well with seven consecutive pars before a late flurry of birdies from the 16th pulled him in to the lead thanks to lengthy birdie putts. 

“Obviously a fun day of golf,” Rose said afterwards. “I guess the round was going nicely. I was 3-under par, had a rough patch, had to scramble, work hard, keep my round together.

“Even when I made a mistake, I was willing to accept. I was kind of playing, okay, if you can go back to 2-under — I was trying to stay patient with myself mentally, but kept up-and-downing the ball, kept the momentum up. And then got rewarded with a hot finish, birdieing the last three, took a good round to a great round.”

Rose proved the point that a good performance on the greens would key to mastering Pebble Beach this week, hitting just 50% of both fairways and greens in regulation but making up for it by gaining 3 strokes over the field in short game and 5 shots in the putting stats – ranking first in both categories on the opening day. 

Those putting stats were certainly improved over the last few holes, as he poured in putts from 27-feet on the 17th and 12 feet on 18 – a run of holes he described as ‘amazing’. 

“It was amazing,” said Rose about his birdie-birdie-birdie finish. “Obviously I had good numbers. I hit my favorite shot of the day was my 7-iron into the 16th hole. The pin was up on the right side. If I was going to hit 7-iron I had to take something off and cut it in there. That was my favorite shot of the day.

“17 was a good, solid 4-iron. If I drew it up it was a perfect number. You had to hit left of the hole. The putt rolled in.

“18, great tee shot. The 5-wood, I was right between clubs. The way I have my bag set up this week, I have a 5-wood that goes 245, occasionally 250, and my 4-iron, it goes like 217, 218. It’s the one part of my bag where there’s quite a big gap. I was right in between clubs on 18, so I was trying to feather up a little 5-wood.

“But I left it in the right spot. You can’t go left. I left it short right. Thought I hit a great bunker shot, it trickled out but made the putt.”

Playing in a group alngside Woods comes with the guarantee of an enormous gallery that can be off-putting, but when Rose was asked if he felt relaxed during his round, he said that playing with Tiger two weeks ago left him feeling prepared. 

“I think playing with Tiger a couple of weeks ago at the Memorial was good. I had those memories. I felt really comfortable. The crowd were big, huge, six or seven deep, pretty much all the way. So there’s the obvious noise. I had to hit some shots where I didn’t quite have the setup or the peace and quiet that I would normally hit a golf shot under, I had to try to keep pushing that. But you play late on a Sunday afternoon it’s noisy. It’s what you want.”

And while he had an impressive first day on a course players described as ‘soft’, Rose said he’s only expecting it to get tougher from here.

“I thought the course might play a little tougher this afternoon than it actually did. I don’t know if — I haven’t paid too much attention if anyone else in the afternoon has got it going low, or if that was the better — obviously it’s the best score today, but if there are other guys chasing as well.

“I think tomorrow the wind might pick up in the afternoon. I was aware of that. I was aware of being patient today if it got tougher this afternoon, and the guys tomorrow afternoon might get something similar. The wind almost laid down coming in, not picking up.”

One shot behind Rose are Rickie Fowler, Louis Oosthuizen, Xander Schauffele and Aaron Wise – three of who are looking for their first major championship this week. 

Scott Piercy and Nate Lashley, who chipped in twice on Thursday, currently lie tied fifth on -4, with a group of eight players that includes Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari a shot further back. 

Defending champion Brooks Koepka and 2010 U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell both posted two-under 69s to sit tied for 16th with 10 others, while Rose’s playing partner Tiger Woods was one of the 12 players to card one-under 70s.