Rickie Fowler stood alone in golf’s history books for all of 15 minutes before he was joined by Xander Schauffele.
The two golfers shot 62s during the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday, marking the lowest scores in tournament history.
Fowler’s round featured 10 birdies, which is believed to be the most holes under par in any round in the U.S. Open. Schauffele, meanwhile, got to 62 without a single bogey on the day.
“It's not really what you expect playing a U.S. Open,” Schauffele said. “But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard. Glad he was just in front of me.”
Fowler and Schauffele broke a 50-year record set by Johnny Miller, who secured the 1973 U.S. Open title by shooting a final-round 63 at Oakmont. Five other players had shot a 63 at the U.S. Open since.
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Beyond Fowler and Schaffele, the U.S. Open field dominated Los Angeles Country Club on Thursday. No golfer exceeded an 80 in the first round and six players shot 65 or lower on the par-70 course. The average 71.37 score on the day was the lowest for a first round in U.S. Open history.
Because of the overall play on Thursday, Fowler and Schauffele do not have as much of a cushion atop the leaderboard as they might have had otherwise after scoring 8-under. Dustin Johnson and Wyndham Clark are tied for third at 6-under, while Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman are tied for fifth at 5-under.
Fowler will once again start his round just before Schauffele on Friday. Fowler will tee off with Justin Rose and Jason Day at 4:32 p.m. ET before Schauffele gets going with Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland at 4:54 p.m.
Despite the unprecedented first round, Schauffele is not expecting a walk in the park the rest of the way.
“It's just Thursday,” he said. "It's literally just the first day of a tournament. It's a good start. You just wait until this place firms up. It's going to be nasty.”
