Tough start for Richard Mansell on US Open debut
Richard Mansell endured a tough start to his US Open debut as he completed his first round in a seven-over-par 77.
The Staffordshire golfer never recovered from two bogeys in two holes at the start of his round, as he was left looking up the leaderboard – and in need of a spectacular second round today to make the cut.
He followed those bogeys on one and two with another pair on five and six, but looked to be settling down when he birdied the par four seventh.
After another bogey on the ninth, Mansell then struck the flag with his tee shot on the 11th, before two-putting for a par.
He got stuck in the rough around the green on 12 before two-putting for a bogey, but then nailed a birdie at the 14th to move back to four under par.
However, a double bogey on the par three 16th and another dropped shot on the 17th left him with an uphill task today.
The Burntwood ace – who secured his place at Brookline with a superb tied third place finish at the Porsche European Open in Germany – made his major debut in The Open last year, finishing in a tie for 74th.
Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy struggled to keep his emotions in check despite making an excellent start to his bid for a fifth major title.
McIlroy carded a three-under-par 67 to share the early clubhouse lead with England’s Callum Tarren, Sweden’s David Lingmerth and American Joel Dahmen.
A month after an opening 65 in the US PGA, it was another welcome good start to a major for McIlroy after previous struggles, but it was not without incident as he slammed one club into a bunker and threw another down the fairway in frustration.
After starting from the 10th, McIlroy had covered his first 13 holes in two under par before a pushed tee shot on the fifth finished in thick rough on the edge of a bunker and left him struggling to take a stance in the sand, with the ball well above his feet.
From there McIlroy could only hack his second shot into another bunker a few yards in front of him, prompting a furious reaction which saw him twice slam his club into the sand.
“You’re going to encounter things at a US Open that you just don’t really encounter any other week,” McIlroy said. “It’s hard not to get frustrated because I’m walking up there going like, just come back into the bunker.
“The thickest rough on the course is around the edges of the bunkers. So I was sort of cursing the USGA whenever I was going up to the ball, but it’s one of those things.
“It happens here, it doesn’t really happen anywhere else. You just have to accept it.
“I gave the sand a couple of whacks because I’d already messed it up, so it wasn’t like it was much more work for Harry (Diamond, his caddie), and then I just reset and played a decent bunker shot, and then it was really nice to hole that (par) putt.”
Callum Tarren, who is ranked 445th in the world, had set the early target after carding an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys in his 67, the 31-year-old from Darlington admitting his presence at the top of the leaderboard had come as a shock.
“I’m kind of pinching myself because I didn’t realise my name was on the top of the leaderboard until I holed that final putt,” Tarren said. “Just excited with my start, and let’s see what the next few days hold.”
