Both Rory McIlroy’s hat and his lead succumbed to the same fate on a chaotic opening day at the US Open. Ultimately it was too windy for either of them to survive intact for an entire round.
In the grander scheme of things, the 69 compiled by the Masters champion at Shinnecock Hills was hugely impressive, but it will be tinged slightly by the regret of how it finished.
That would relate to the back-to-back bogeys he carded on his final two holes, having spent much of the loop proving himself immune to the challenges of this course at its most fiendish.
For make no mistake, this was a savagely tough day. And for most of it, McIlroy was immense in his patience, putting and driving, illustrated by his surge to three under par before hitting the skids.
He will resume at one under par on Friday afternoon and in close proximity to the lead, provisionally held by Sam Stevens on two under, so any frustration will be limited. And more than that, the world No 2 will be satisfied that, for the first time this season, the key aspects of his game are firing simultaneously.
It has been a jarring thought for much of 2026 that his biggest weapon – the driver – has become a vulnerability, but there were few shortcomings from the tee here. He hit 10 of 14 fairways and the context of those numbers is important, because the wind was hellish strong.
Rory McIlroy’s lead was unable to survive after a brutally tough opening round at the US Open
McIlroy, whose hat blew off during the round, still delivered a hugely impressive round in the winds but it will be tinged with disappointment
The Masters champion remains close to Sam Stevens, who holds the provisional lead
After a two-hour delay for fog, the gusts crept ever upwards from 20mph to 25 to 30 and beyond, and the worse it got, the better McIlroy became off the tee. Twice he lost his hat in the process of delivering those strokes, but not the ball. Dovetailing with that improvement was a hot putter – he drained the better part of 100-feet in aggregated putts.
It was often sublime, illuminated by the highlight of his round, which was delivered on the wings of an eagle at the fifth hole. Having started on the 10th and played his first 13 holes in one under, he took out the big dog on the 592-yard par five and ticked off 396 of them with a single huge strike. A nine iron to 11 feet set up the three and a two-stroke lead.
The ‘but’ comes from his wedge play on the home stretch. Holding these greens is a famously tough undertaking, even on a day when they were set up to run slower to kinder pin positions, but McIlroy’s biggest errors came with those shorter irons in hand. Concluding on the front nine, he missed both the eighth and ninth greens from the fairways inside 165 yards. For a player of his calibre, they border on unforced errors, despite the weather.
McIlroy, who carded 80 in the first round here in 2018, said: ‘I think with the conditions today, anything under par or anything around even par is a good score. It was a day to really just keep yourself in the tournament and not shoot yourself out of it, which is exactly what I did eight years ago here.
‘I went out with the mindset that pars were going to be good, and if you could pick up a couple of birdies here and there, that’s always a bonus. It was really about minimising the mistakes. I did that for the most part today.
‘On the last two holes I put myself in pretty difficult spots and wasn’t able to get it up-and-down, but overall a really good day.’
Irrespective of how it finished, it was a sterling round, highlighted by the fact only nine men were under par by the time he reached the clubhouse. Ludvig Aberg, McIlroy’s playing partner, also shot 69, while a cold putter cost Scottie Scheffler in a 72. Tommy Fleetwood shot 70.
