(Los Angeles) Fifteen minutes apart, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele set and tied a U.S. Open record by shooting 62 on Thursday.
This is the lowest score in the tournament’s 128-year history.
Fowler had 10 birdies at the Los Angeles Country Club.
Two groups behind, Schauffele benefited from a brilliant tee shot in the seventh, lodging his ball five feet from the cup. He got his eighth and last birdie there.
In major tournaments, Branden Grace also shot 62 at the British Open in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, in the third round.
Inaugurated in 1911, the LACC hosts a prestigious tournament for the first time.
Record scores could raise questions about the choice of court, but Schauffele isn’t too keen on that.
“My job is to play golf,” he said. I try not to speculate too much. I go with what the field gives me. Today I got a good score. »
Schauffele finished in the top 10 five times at the U.S. Open, in six appearances at the tournament.
Six players had scored a 63 at the U.S. Open, most recently Tommy Fleetwood in 2018 in the final round at Shinnecock Hills.
Fowler wedged a 15-foot putt on the 18th hole, starting a series of four birdies. Finding himself in a bunker on the fourth hole, he sent his ball two inches from the cup, having to settle for a par.
Having reconnected with instructor Butch Harmon last fall, Fowler is back in the top 50, having been in danger of dropping out of the top 200 a year ago.
Bryson DeChambeau, Si Woo Kim, Scottie Scheffler and Paul Barjon brought home a 67.
DeChambeau won the event three years ago. Scheffler triumphed at Augusta last year.
Rory McIlroy is five under at the halfway point, the result of five birdies.
Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm is in the group at 69
Frenchman Matthieu Pavon scored a hole-in-one on the 15th hole (124 yards), in his round of 71.
Canadians Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin played par (70).
Adam Svensson shot 71, one shot better than Roger Sloan.
Nick Taylor, who won the Canadian Open in spectacular fashion last weekend, is among the other Canadians at the event. Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes complete the portrait for the maple leaf.