BROOKLINE, Mass. -- Perhaps the talk of LIV Golf vs. the PGA Tour will subside for a few days, with the start of the U.S. Open at The Country Club officially here. Or, at least, until Phil Mickelson returns to the course Friday. Mickelson, the face of LIV Golf, is still searching for that one missing piece of his Grand Slam résumé: a U.S. Open win.
During the first round, two kids ran off with defending champ Jon Rahm's ball on the 18th hole. Rahm got a free drop on the hole while the kids snagged a souvenir.
Adam Hadwin was the leader by 1 at the end of the first day at 4 under. Rory McIlroy is part of a pack chasing him at 3 under, while Phil Mickelson struggled mightily and is near the bottom of the leaderboard at 8 over.
Here's a look back at the sights and sounds from the first day.
LIV almost really did mean 54 (over)
The 15 LIV Golf players in the field this week, for the most part, struggled through the opening round of the U.S. Open. How bad was it? They nearly combined to shoot their name.
LIV, in Roman numerals, is 54.
The 15 LIV players put up a cumulative total Thursday of 53 over. Dustin Johnson (2 under) and James Piot 1 (under) were the only ones among the group to break 70. Jed Morgan had the worst day, posting 12-over 82. Mickelson wasn't much better, shooting 78. Louis Oosthuizen, who was playing with Mickelson, went around in 77.
Dustin Johnson: 68
James Piot: 69
Shaun Norris: 70
Patrick Reed: 70
Richard Bland: 70
Bryson DeChambeau 71
Sam Horsfield: 73
Sergio Garcia: 74
Talor Gooch: 74
Kevin Na: 75
Jinichiro Kozuma: 76
Branden Grace: 76
Louis Oosthuizen: 77
Phil Mickelson: 78
Jed Morgan: 82
Not a good start for Mickelson
After making the turn at 5-over 40, Mickelson had a bogey on the par-4 10th to move to 6 over. He finally picked up a birdie on the par-3 11th with an 8-foot putt. But then things really got away from Lefty. He made a double bogey on the 12th hole, after pulling his tee shot into the deep rough on the right. He needed two shots to get back on the fairway and ended up carding a double-bogey 6 to drop to 7 over. -- Mark Schlabach
Phil Mickelson four-putted the par-3 6th hole after landing his tee shot on the green about 15 feet from the hole. After missing a potential birdie putt, Mickelson pushed the par putt past the hole and missed the comeback putt for bogey.
"Wow," he mouthed to himself as the third putt couldn't find the hole.
Mickelson has yet to make a birdie and sits at 5 over after six holes. -- Paolo Uggetti
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