SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) The Latest on the U.S. Open’s first round Thursday (all times local):

6:35 p.m.

Dean Burmester figured out a solution to the problem many players at the U.S. Open were having with the greens at Shinnecock Hills.

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He holed out from the fairway for eagle on No. 18, a 485-yard par 4.

Burmester drove 411 yards to the right side of the fairway, leaving himself 103 yards to the hole. His iron went right into the cup, sending the gallery into a huge cheer. The shot helped salvage a difficult back nine for Burmester. He had three bogeys, along with a triple bogey on the par-4 13th hole that dropped him to 7 over.

He finished the day plus-5.

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6:25 p.m.

Things have gotten ugly on the back nine of the U.S. Open for Tiger Woods.

After rallying to play the final seven holes on the front side in 1-under par following a triple bogey and bogey on the first two holes, Woods fell apart on the greens.

Woods bogeyed the 11th, then made successi..

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) The Latest on the U.S. Open’s first round Thursday (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

Twenty-three-year-old Scott Gregory thinks he was just a kid the last time he shot in the 90s.

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”It’s been a long time,” he said after shooting a 22-over 92 on Thursday to take a stranglehold on last place early on in the U.S. Open. ”It’s not the week I wanted to revisit it.”

Although the 2016 British Amateur champion was in one of the earliest groups, there was no one within nine strokes of him on the leaderboard as the afternoon threesomes began to tee off.

His advice for those not yet out on the course: ”You can’t miss it long, short, left or right. If you hit it in the middle, you’re all right.”

Still, it wasn’t all bad for Gregory, who missed the cut in last year’s U.S. Open.

He got to meet Tiger Woods.

”I’ve been waiting for that picture for 15 years,” he said. ”So it’s quite a big deal.”

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1 p.m.

Early leader Scott Piercy cut short a pract..

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) The Latest on the U.S. Open’s first round Thursday (all times local):

10 a.m.

Masters champion Patrick Reed is off to an up-and-down start to his first round of the U.S. Open.

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Reed, who won his first major title in April, started on the back nine and birdied the 10th and 11th holes. He immediately followed with a bogy, then had another bogey at No. 14 to stand at even par.

His playing partners, Zach Johnson and Charl Schwartzel, both major winners, aren’t doing quite so well. Johnson is 2 over and Schwartzel is 3 over.

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9:40 a.m.

It’s been a rough go early at the U.S. Open for Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy. All three multiple major winners were finding Shinnecock Hills very difficult in the first round.

Mickelson, seeking to complete a career Grand Slam with a win at the U.S. Open, was 3-over par through five holes. Playing partners Spieth, owner of three major titles, was 5 over in the same marquee threesome..

Ross KinnairdSOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. — Scott Stallings has qualified for just one U.S. Open in his career, a surprisingly low number for an eight-year veteran that has collected three victories on the PGA Tour. That first appearance came at Merion in 2013, where he finished in a tie for 53rd. He's got a lot of work to do to top that result after what happened to him at the 14th green on Thursday at Shinnecock.
RELATED: Follow the first-round action from the U.S. Open
Beginning his round on the back nine, Stallings recovered from back-to-back bogeys at the 10th and 11th holes with a birdie at the par-4 12th, but promptly gave that back with another bogey at the 13th. At the long par-4 14th, Stallings found the green in three and faced a 50-footer for par, needing a solid two-putt to take a “good bogey” on one of the toughest holes on the course. Instead, Stallings proceeded to putt it off the back of the green, a putt totaling 96 feet that left him 45 more feet from the hole. That's..

The 10 best golf courses designed by William Flynn (as ranked by Golf Digest's course-ranking panelists)

The U.S. Open prides itself on being the most difficult tournament in golf, and we have the soundtrack of exasperated golfers to prove it. U.S. Open rounds are long, they're good for at least a half dozen Have you ever played this game? moments, and it's not always an outright disappointment to those players who miss the cut and get to go home Friday.
FacebookPinterestChris McGrath/Getty ImagesIn tone, requisite amount of psychotherapy, and language, the U.S. Open stands apart from the other three majors. With that in mind, let's consider some terms unique to the USGA's annual celebration of the sideways chip-out.
Rough: Where your ball ends up should you miss the fairway or green, or where you could possibly lay low for a few weeks while in witness protection.
FacebookPinterestCopyright USGA/Jeff HaynesGraduated rough: The strategic thickening of the rough the further you venture off the fairway, meant to remind players that as much as they’re cursing the USGA now,..

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) The U.S. Open has begun on a century-old golf course with a new look.

Harold Varner hit the opening tee shot on a gorgeous Thursday morning at Shinnecock Hills, using a fairway metal to hit a fairway that was some 60 yards wide in the landing zone. He still watched it anxiously, only because a marshal unaware the U.S. Open had started ambled across the fairway, and broke into a sprint when he heard the ball land near him.

Scott Piercy and Matthieu Pavon of France also found the short grass – Piercy in the first fairway, Pavon so far right that it cleared the knee-high fescue and landed on the ninth hole.

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The fairways are 15 yards wider on average than the 2004 U.S. Open at Shinnecock.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) Oscar Bunn grew up two miles south of Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, the site of this week’s 118th U.S. Open, caddying and learning to play at the course that took its name from his Indian nation.

The first Native American professional golfer, Bunn befriended the first African-American pro, John Shippen. Together they entered the 1896 U.S. Open to be held at their home club, but many Scottish and English golfers threatened to drop out rather than play alongside them.

The USGA refused to budge.

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”Credit to the USGA at the time and credit to the Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, who stood up and said, `You don’t have to play in this if you don’t want to play.’ They ended up playing,” current USGA chief executive Mike Davis said on Wednesday. ”But that’s what was done. To think about that happened in 1896, it’s been great.”

Shippen finished tied for sixth. Bunn placed 21st.

More than a century later, the U.S. Open returns to Shinnecock Hills ..

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) Justin Rose was coming up on 15 years as a pro and still didn’t have a major.

What he found was perspective.

”Between 30 and 40, that’s going to be my opportunity to go really out and get things done,” Rose said. ”That’s 40 major championships. I’m going to create chances with those 40. I’m going to be on leaderboards.”

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More than getting into weekend conditions, however, was realizing that it wasn’t always going to work out. It was OK to fail.

That was the secret to playing so well under pressure at Merion, where he broke through in the 2013 U.S. Open.

”I think what happened to me at Merion, I also realized I’m going to win majors, and I’m also going to lose majors,” he said. ”You can’t skip through your career without one or two slipping through the net. It’s a byproduct of being on the leaderboard that those things happen. So I wasn’t scared of losing, and that helped me win my first major championship. I wasn’t shying away fro..

Tune into the 118th U.S. Open starting Thursday at 9:30am ET on FS1. Holly Sonders gets you set for the start. Sponsored by #Lexus