Louis Oosthuizen struggled to get into a groove on Thursday during the opening round of the 2017 US Open at Erin Hills, writes WADE PRETORIUS.
READ: Els happy despite late slip
Oosthuizen was playing alongside fellow South African Charl Schwartzel and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson in the afternoon as the trio attempted to chase down pace-setter Rickie Fowler.
Without a birdie, or bogey, on his card after seven holes Oosthuizen went bogey, bogey to make the turn in 38. He would then make his solitary birdie for the day at the 11th, but dropped another shot the very next hole before closing with six straight pars as he struggled to make the most of the back nine par 5s. Scoring became a little more difficult for the afternoon field as the breeze picked up and the greens became a little slicker.
‘Mixed day today. Just couldn’t get it going. Roll on tomorrow!’ tweeted Oosthuizen after he signed for a two over 74. One shot worse off is debutant Oliver Bekker, who will be ruing a triple bogey 7 on the 17th.
Countryman Schwartzel’s day could’ve been a whole lot worse than Oosthuizen after his own up and down front nine. Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters winner, began his day with a bogey, but cancelled that out with a birdie on the very next hole. A bogey at six was followed by another at 8, before a birdie helped him make the turn just one over.
And that’s where his day changed, as Schwartzel made two more birdies in succession and consolidated his round with five straight pars. His bogey on 17 was erased with a closing birdie to move the South African into a share of 29th place.
One shot better off than Schwartzel is youngster Brandon Stone, who came through sectional qualifying to tee it up at Erin Hills this week. He made it count with birdies on 1, 5, 8 and 9, but gave shots back on 13 and 15. Key to Stone’s good round was his scrambling – he ranked lower than the field in both driving accuracy and greens in regulation, but still managed to end his round tucked comfortably inside the top 20.
George Coetzee made the turn in +2, but birdied both the 12th and 13th holes to get back to level.
South African first round scores:
