Few expected Russell Henley to be standing on the 18th tee needing just a par to get in the clubhouse with the first-round lead at the US Open.
But in just his seventh Open appearance, and just his sixth as a pro, Henley managed to make a bogey in the final hole and fall back into a four-way tie for the lead at 1-under with Dustin Johnson, Scott Piercy and Ian Poulter on Thursday at Shinnecock Hills.
“I felt really in control of my game,” Henley said. “Physically, I feel good, and mentally, I’m excited to be here, excited to be playing. I think this is my seventh US Open, so it’s about time I start playing a little bit better.”
The best finish in the tournament for the 29-year-old Georgian was his tie for 27th last year at Erin Hills. He had a chance to finish a lot better, but his final-round 79 sent him spiraling down the leaderboard. Nevertheless, it was an experience he said he has learned from.
“You have to be in control of your emotions,” Henley said. “Last year, I had one of my better majors going into the last nine holes, and I finished with a bunch of doubles and quads and ended up finishing like 27th. I just lost it mentally. I got emotional and just started just trying to hit stupid shots. It just takes one or two bad decisions to make it compile on top of each other, especially on a course like this.”
If Jason Dufner could consistently make putts inside 5 feet, he would have had the opening-round lead. But Dufner’s putter continued to let him down, as he missed two short putts on his final nine holes and ended up shooting a first-round 70 and trail by one.
“I’d like to see the greens a little bit fresher, maybe a little bit cleaner,” said Dufner, who was one of the final groups to finish when the greens were pretty chewed up. “Hopefully that will be my case [Friday], and we’ll see how the weekend goes.”
Garrett Rank, the full-time NHL official who qualified for the Open and is a three-time Canadian Amateur champion, shot an opening-round 83. It included a heart-pumping double-bogey on his first hole — when he said he was “shaking and almost dropped the club” — and then what he called a “topped driver” at the eighth hole that somehow ended with a par.
“For me, this isn’t my job. It’s just cool to be out here,” Rank said. “I obviously wanted to play better than I did today, but at the end of the day, I’m at the US Open and playing in a major championship.”
The 536-yard, par-4 14th hole ranked as the hardest of the day (4.814), while the 592-yard, par-5 fifth ranked as the easiest (4.686).
The 18th hole was playing drastically downwind and downhill, and the average drive there went 317.7 yards, despite several players not hitting driver. The longest tee shot of the day went to Justin Thomas, who bombed one 407 yards, leaving just 106 into the hole.
One of the most unlikely rounds of the day came from 25-year-old French pro Matthieu Pavon, who went out early and shot a 1-over 71.
“The pace on the green is really important and I hit some really low and great drives,” said Pavon, who graduated from the minor league Challenge Tour to the European Tour for this season. “You have to hit it low and then you can make it run on the fairways. I mean, it’s the most important way to play well, I think, here.”
Pavon’s best finish in Europe was a tie for 11th at the Maybank Championship in February, and he was also disqualified from the Dubai Desert Classic in January after signing an incorrect scorecard.
South African Dean Burmester made a splash when he holed out from the 18th fairway to wrap up a solid 5-over 75.
“Walked down there and we had 117 yards in the flag and it was a perfect lob wedge,” he said about the downwind approach. “So hit perfect lob wedge and slam dunked it straight in the hole.”