Dustin Johnson Tied for Lead at U.S. Open After the First Round

The first round of the 2018 U.S. Open is in the books and, by all accounts, it was brutal for most. Shinnecock Hills has proven to be a tough test for the world’s best golfers.

Thus far there has been at least one double-bogey on every hole and not one player had a completely clean scorecard today. However, according to forecasts, the winds are supposed to be slightly more manageable on Friday, but that doesn’t mean the greens and surrounding areas will be.

When the Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods group teed off, the carnage had already crushed many. Despite that, one of the guys in this group handled everything that Shinnecock threw at him.

Johnson made three birdies and only one bogey on the front nine in his first round. One of those birdies included this hole-out from the bunker on eight.

Johnson added another birdie on the par-3 11th hole after draining a long putt. His short game has been outstanding thus far, and this course is proving that he is a more complete player that many believed.

Johnson finished the day with a one-under, 69.

Johnson wasn’t the only player to have some success. Scott Piercy, Ian Poulter, and Russell Henley also played well and they were the only four in red.

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While DJ got off to a smooth start, Tiger Woods did not. Woods opened with a triple bogey and followed that up with a bogey on the second. However, he pulled himself together and went par-par-birdie-par-par-par-par to finish the front nine with a three-over, 38.

Woods appeared to be rolling along towards a round of three or four over par until a four-putt double-bogey on the par-4 14th derailed him. That disaster dropped him to six-over. Things got worse from there as he found the deep stuff on the 14th, and walked away with a double-bogey putting him at eight-over.

Woods finished with a 78.

With the top 60 and ties making the cut, Tiger, along with the guys listed at the top of this post, will need some help to make it to the weekend.

Among those who struggled in the first round…

• +5 – Jimmy Walker
• +5 – Brooks Koepka
• +5 – Hideki Matsuyama
• +5 – Sergio Garcia
• +5 – Tommy Fleetwood
• +6 – Daniel Berger
• +6 – Bryson DeChambeau
• +7 – Bubba Watson
• +7 – Phil Mickelson
• +8 – Jordan Spieth
• +8 – Jon Rahm
• +8 – Ernie Els
• +8 – Tiger Woods
• +8 – Adam Scott
• +9 – Jason Day
• +9 – Charl Schwartzel
• +10 – Rory McIlroy
• +11 – Keegan Bradley