Rookie PGA Tour pro Callum Tarren must be wondering if there is a coincidence between qualifying for the US Open and having his clubs go missing on flights.
The 31-year-old Englishman first made it through qualifying for the US Open in 2019 in Pebble Beach and arrived in San Francisco ahead of his Major debut only to find that his clubs hadn’t made it on the flight. He eventually got them on the eve of the tournament, where he missed the cut.
This time around, Tarren – who missed the cut in the Canadian Open – landed in Boston on Sunday to discover his clubs were still in Toronto.
“There were five other players on my flight, they all got their clubs. So it was the second US Open I’ve played in and second time with no clubs.”
He walked the course Sunday with just a wedge to get his first look at the course and, reunited with his clubs for the practice rounds, produced a superb opening round 67 which included an eagle three on the eighth, his penultimate hole.
Koepka reverts to tried and trusted
Brooks Koepka may have signed a deal with Srixon last year to play their ball and use the manufacturer’s driver and irons but the four-time Major champion has been given leave to use his old TaylorMade driver, which he used to win the 2019 US PGA, and Titleist ProV1x he previously used for this US Open.
So far this season, Koepka has used Srixon’s Z-Star XV ball and ZX7 driver but sought permission to revert back to his old tools of the trade while Srixon develop their next generation driver and ball.
“To work through this adjustment period most efficiently, we decided to focus our energy on fitting Brooks into the next generation Srixon driver and golf ball prototypes that will debut on tour in the near future, products developed with Brooks’ input and needs in mind,” said the company in a statement.
Spieth battles on despite feeling unwell
An upset stomach played havoc with Jordan Spieth’s championship build-up – he only hit three balls on the range on Tuesday before stopping – and confined himself to mainly to pitching and putting when walking the course on the practice days.
Feeling about “70 per cent” fit ahead of his first round, Spieth decided to persevere and four bogeys in his opening five holes put a question mark over whether he should have played at all (with Rickie Fowler waiting for any withdrawals as first reserve).
However, Spieth rallied to produce a two-over-par 72 (six bogeys, four birdies) and hopefully recovering full health to give himself a chance to survive the cut.
Slam dunk for Lowry
Clever ploy from Shane Lowry to tap into the local Boston support this week, with a fresh addition to his shirts .
Apart from his main sponsors which appear to the front, the Boston Celtics official logo has been added to the back of the Offalyman’s shirt for his week just below the neck.
The famous basketball team has won a record 17 NBA titles but their last came back in 2008, which has created a sporting frenzy in the city. Something of a slam dunk by Lowry in garnering extra support!
Word of Mouth
“It’s not really comparable, it’s more of a thank-God-I-made-a-putt-type deal” – defending champion Jon Rahm of mimicking his fist pump of last year when holing from long distance for an unlikely closing birdie in an opening round 69.
By the Numbers – 12
The putting green speeds for the first round were 12 on the stimpmeter, averaging in the mid 12s in the morning and settling to low 12s as the day progressed. The greens were single cut and rolled in the morning to achieve the desired speed, with water applied to greens as needed to maintain turf health.
