Behind the numbers of brutal opening round at U.S. Open
SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — The steady breezes and difficulty of Shinnecock Hills produced a wide array of eye-popping numbers during Round 1 of the U.S. Open.
Our favorites:
76.405: The opening-round scoring average made this the toughest U.S. Open first round since 1986. That event, also played at Shinnecock Hills, featured a scoring average of 77.877.
13 of 14 fairways, 77: Phil Mickelson.
9 of 18 greens, 69: Dustin Johnson.
78: Highest score in Jordan Spieth’s major championship career.
+52: Combined over par total for the World Top 10 (75.2 scoring average).
+66: Combined over par total of the top 10 amateurs in the 2018 U.S. Open after Round 1.
More: Shinnecock setup, strong winds humble golf's biggest stars
More: Tiger Woods lets another round get away from him
12: The toughest fairway to hit was the 12th hole where just 87 of 156 hit the fairway (56%).
2: The toughest green to hit was at No. 2. Just 32 players hit the second green out of 156 (21%).
14: The toughest hole was the 14th hole with a 4.808 scoring average. That makes it the 14th highest single-day scoring average for a U.S. Open hole since records have been kept (1970).
Shackelford writes for Golfweek.com, part of the Paste BN Network.