From The U.S. Open: Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele Shoot First 62s in U.S. Open History 20 Minutes Apart
Everyone knew LACC would yield birdie opportunities, and the members were just fine with that. Better preserve the integrity of their magnificent course, the thinking went, than to crudely plant a bunch of Bermuda rough everywhere and turn it into a slog. A double-digit under par winning score in the U.S. Open, unfathomable until the 2010s, seemed a distinct possibility once. Again, no one had any issues with that, so long as this unique layout provided a stern test that identifies, rather than embarrasses, the top players in the world.
But a 62? Nay, two 62s? Within 25 minutes of each other? That wasn’t on the Bingo card, and it's sure to catch the attention of the famously proud membership.
And yet that’s what we saw on Thursday at LACC, where a morning sprinkle and an absence of wind—combined with the wide fairways and carpet-pure greens—left George Thomas’ masterpiece there for the taking. As with the other two Thomas gems in the area, Riviera and Bel-Air, LACC begins with a handshake-opener par 5. The back nine’s a stiffer challenge, by a decent margin, and both SoCal natives turned in three-under 32 after starting on the also-gentle 10th. They both birdied that easy first and the more stout second. Both nabbed their final birdie of the day—Rickie made 10 and two bogeys, while Xander was bogey-free—on the par-5 8th, and both had reasonable chances for 61 on the par-3 9th to finish their rounds. Rickie’s missed low, Xander’s short. They both cleaned up three-footers to join Branden Grace as the only men to shoot 62 in major championship history, and both bettered Johnny Miller’s 63 at Oakmont to set the U.S. Open scoring record.
“It was a great day,” Fowler said after the round. “Got off to a nice start making 3 on 10 and just never really thought about a score or necessarily what I was trying to do out there. The first few days this week I wasn't feeling very comfortable swinging and wasn't making many putts or hitting very good putts, so continue to get work in on the course as well as in the practice area, and finally a couple things clicked a bit yesterday. Then it was more just go out, trust it, and let things happen. I knew there was birdies to be made out here, but you have to drive it well and get the ball in position first. Yeah, did that, and from there just managed our way around really well.”
This is, at least thus far, the high point of what’s been a remarkable but steady resurgence for Fowler, who was once ranked as high as world No. 4. After returning to swing coach Butch Harmon, who mentored him through his meteoric rise and was his coach through his mid 2010s peak, Fowler has 12 top-25 finishes in 17 starts on the PGA Tour. That run of play has him back inside the top 50 of the world rankings and, as such, back into all the majors after he missed the last two U.S. Opens and dropped as low as No. 185 in the rankings.
Schauffele has experienced no such dip—he’s been a perennial top 10 player for the last half-decade, and he and his buddy Patrick Cantlay are probably 1-2 in the “best player without a major” category. Cantlay hasn’t played well in the big four but Schauffele has; he’s got 10 career top-10 finishes in just 24 career major starts and enters every one as a trendy dark-ish horse pick.
“The sun didn't come out and it was misting this morning, so I'd say the greens held a little bit more moisture than anticipated for myself at least,” Schauffele said when asked about the conditions. “I think it made the greens sort of that more holeable speed almost, and then coming into greens you're able to pull some wedges back. And then the fairways are a little bit softer, too, because of that sort of overcast, and without the sun out it's not drying out much. I think fairways are easier to hit and greens are a little bit softer.”
Add it all up and you get two 62s. At a U.S. Open!
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