Scottie Scheffler has admitted Shinnecock Hills was a "good battle" after surviving a punishing opening day at the US Open, with many of golf's biggest names struggling to cope with fierce winds and one of the sport's toughest venues.
Concerns had been raised before the tournament that Shinnecock could descend into chaos for a third successive US Open after controversial editions in 2004 and 2018.
Forecasts predicted gusts of more than 40mph on Thursday, prompting US Open organisers to take preventative measures in an effort to avoid a repeat of the scenes eight years ago when players and pundits criticised the setup.
The USGA slowed down the greens and watered them between the morning and afternoon sessions to reduce the risk of balls rolling away uncontrollably.
The decision appeared to pay off.
Although conditions remained extremely demanding, play continued uninterrupted and only six players from the morning wave managed rounds in the 60s.
World No 1 Scheffler was among those left battling for survival, carding a two-over-par 72 as he continued his bid to complete the career Grand Slam.
"It felt like a day where a lot of good shots were going to get punished," Scheffler said.
"You had to be hitting a great shot if you wanted to avoid a punishment. I think good shots would put you in some tough spots.
"Overall, it was a really challenging day.
"If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on nine that I would post two over today, I would definitely have taken it.
"It was a good battle."
Scheffler's playing partner JJ Spaun also endured some bad luck, seeing a tee shot on a par three briefly hold the putting surface before being blown into a bunker by the wind.
Several players experienced balls moving on greens, though conditions never became severe enough for officials to suspend play.
Former Open champion Padraig Harrington praised tournament organisers for striking the right balance.
"Obviously it got quite windy, but you couldn't have asked for a better set-up," he said.
"There obviously was a couple of tough holes, but all the tees were up. The pins were as easy as can be. Greens were soft.
"So it was a tough test but very, very fair."
Tommy Fleetwood agreed, adding: "I think they did an amazing job of making it as fair as you could possibly make a test of golf today, with the conditions that they had."
Dense fog delayed play by two hours during the morning, meaning the opening round could not be completed before darkness.
Rory McIlroy, who famously opened with an 80 when the US Open was last held at Shinnecock in 2018, fared much better this time around with a one-under-par 69 despite bogeying his final two holes.
"The greens are pretty slow and quite receptive," McIlroy said.
"I think they need to be. It's a challenging golf course already, and you put 30-mile-an-hour winds on top of it, it tests the best players in the world pretty well.
"I think they were prudent with the course set-up."
McIlroy added: "Went out with the mindset that pars were going to be good and if you could pick up a couple of birdies here and there, that's always a bonus.
"Just minimising the mistakes - I did that for the most part."
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