Tough Going as Oakmont Bares its Teeth

Pennsylvania, United States: Two-time Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship winner Lin Yuxin and fellow-Chinese Bo Jin were the region’s standout performers on the opening day of the 121st US Amateur Championship.

On a tough day for scoring at Oakmont Country Club, Lin returned a solid two-over-par 72 – a score bettered by only seven players at the venue which is hosting its record-tying sixth US Amateur and 17th USGA championship.

Bo, meanwhile, signed for a one-under-par 69 on stroke play co-host course Longue Vue Club, where Singapore’s James Leow and Australian Lukas Michel both signed for 72s and Tony Chen Kuang-yu of Australia had a 73.

But it was a chastening day for the Asia-Pacific contingent who were drawn to play the first round at Oakmont, which lived up to its reputation as one of golf’s sternest tests.

With temperatures reaching the low 90s and the heat index reaching nearly 100, the scoring averages for the courses reflected Oakmont’s difficulty, as Longue Vue played to a 71.7 mark and Oakmont was at 77.1, nearly 5½ strokes higher.

The top three players in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) were grouped together at Oakmont and could only manage a combined return of 22-over-par.

WAGR number one Keita Nakajima of Japan ballooned to an 80, while number two Pierceson Coody of the United States shot 75 and number three Ludvig Aberg of Swede carded a 77.

Of the other Asia-Pacific representatives at Oakmont, Malaysian Khavish Varadan had a 73 followed by Korean Sam Choi (74), Japan’s Taiga Sugihara (75), Kento Yamawaki and Yuki Moriyama of Japan, Hong Kong’s Leon D'Souza and Australian Louis Dobbelaar (all 76s), Japan’s Keita Okada and Ren Yonezawa (both 77), and Thai Puwit Anupansuebsai and Kotaro Murata of Japan (both 79).

Indonesian Timothius Tamardi struggled to an 83 with China’s Kong Lingkun (84) and Korean Kim Ho-won (85) also finding the going tough.

Just one player of the 156 who played at Oakmont posted an under-par score, a one-under 69 by Cole Sherwood.

Fellow-American Jacob Bridgeman, a senior at Clemson University, shot the low round of the day, a seven-under 63 at Longue Vue Club.

Americans Joe Highsmith and Mark Goetz and England’s Alex Fitzpatrick shot 64s at Longue Vue, which is about six miles away from Oakmont. Four other players, including 2018 US Junior Amateur champion Michael Thorbjornsen had 65s at Longue Vue among a parade of under-par scores on the 6,705-yard layout set high above the Allegheny River.

Of the 60 players who stood at par or better at the end of the day, 58 played Longue Vue and just two played at Oakmont.

The 312-player field will switch courses for round two on Tuesday, after which the top 64 players will move on to match play, with six rounds to determine the champion, who will earn an exemption into the 2022 US Open Championship at The Country Club in Brookline, among other rewards.