Sam Stevens golf held the clubhouse lead at 2-under after an opening 68 at the US Open, despite a double bogey on his first hole this morning. Stevens recovered across the front nine and finished the round with six birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey to set the benchmark at Shinnecock Hills.
Sam Stevens at Shinnecock Hills
Stevens’s 68 came by way of a recovery arc: a double bogey on his first hole, two bogeys elsewhere and six birdies overall. He birdied the 9th to return to 2-under, the scoring line that put him in the clubhouse lead while the rest of the field was still finishing the opening round.
Rory McIlroy Through 14 Holes
Rory McIlroy reached 3-under through 14 holes after making an eagle putt, a result that creates the possibility of a two-shot cushion over Stevens if McIlroy maintains that form. McIlroy’s 3-under through 14 gives the chasing group a clear target: beat 2-under to displace the clubhouse leader and limit McIlroy’s room for error.
Tommy Fleetwood and Keegan Bradley
Tommy Fleetwood answered a testing start by making two consecutive birdies to return to level par for his round, while Keegan Bradley made birdie at 15 to move to 1-under and join the immediate chase. Morning-wave players included Rickie Fowler and Ludvig Åberg, both under par, evidence that scoring has varied widely across waves as conditions shifted during the day.
Stevens’s round matters because of how it tracked the course’s swings in difficulty: six birdies show the capacity to take advantage of short scoring windows, while the double bogey on the first hole underlines how quickly the numbers can flip on a major test. With weather and delays affecting the opening round, a 68 that contains both big numbers and multiple birdies functions as a practical target for those still on the course.
Ethan Fang, the amateur who posted a 74, supplied a light touch off the course when told his surname was headline-friendly: "That’s the aim!" Fang’s 74 sits behind the leaders but illustrates how the leaderboard will continue to shuffle as late starters finish.
Stevens’s path through the round provides a compact timeline of the day: a morning double bogey, a recovery that included the birdie at the 9th to reach 2-under, and a closing 68 that made him the clubhouse benchmark while play continued. That sequence—early blow, mid-round recovery, clubhouse target—frames what the rest of the field must beat.
Will Sam Stevens remain the clubhouse leader once the rest of the opening round finishes and late starters complete their holes?
