Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele made history with the lowest ever rounds in a US Open while Rory McIlroy is three behind them after a day of low scoring at LA Country Club.
The 34-year-old Fowler, who hasn't won on the PGA Tour since 2019, rattled in 10 birdies and just two bogeys to set the clubhouse lead with an eight-under-par in Los Angeles.
In doing so, he became only the second player to hit 62 in a major championship after Branden Grace in the Open at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Within half an hour, we would witness a third. Fowler's newly minted US Open record would be matched before lunchtime on the West Coast, with Schauffele rolling in a birdie on the eighth [his 17th] to reach eight-under.
When you're hot, you're hot 🔥
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2023
10 birdies today for @RickieFowler and he is alone at -8. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/5oJlbWK6NV
Schauffele, who registered five top-three finishes in majors between 2018 and 2021, had a putt on the ninth for a historic 61. However, he left it a few feet short, tidying up for a blemish-free 62 to join Fowler in the record books.
While the Californian duo are the first players to card 62 at the US Open, their rounds are not the lowest to par in US Open history, that honour still being held by Justin Thomas for his nine-under-par 63 at Erin Hills in 2017.
For Fowler, the round continued a recent renaissance. He had failed to qualify for the last two US Opens as a loss of form saw him tumble to 185th in the world rankings, but he came into the week on the back of successive top 10s on the PGA Tour and ranked 45th.
"It was a great day," Fowler said. "I got off to a nice start making a three on 10, but never really thought about a score out there.
"The first few days this week I was not feeling very comfortable or making many putts but I kept working on the range and finally a couple of things clicked a bit yesterday (Wednesday).
"Then it was just a case of going out there and trusting it and letting things happen."
Tied at the top! @XSchauffele moves into a share of the lead at -8. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/6TtvMiLi02
— U.S. Open (USGA) (@usopengolf) June 15, 2023
The American duo led by two shots from compatriot Wyndham Clark and former US Open champion Dustin Johnson, with Rory McIlroy nicely positioned on five-under alongside Brian Harman.
World number one Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau were two strokes further back, while a frustrated Jon Rahm threatened to break a club over his knee as he struggled off the tee, but still managed to post a 69.
Playing alongside McIlroy, US PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka carded a 71 which was matched by defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick.
McIlroy raced to the turn in 30 with five birdies in his first eight holes before following a run of six pars with a birdie on the 124-yard 15th, where Matthieu Pavon and Sam Burns both made a hole-in-one.
However, the four-time major winner then dropped his only shot of the day on the 18th and did not speak to waiting reporters after being required to undertake a drug test.
One stroke further back is a high-powered group on three-under containing world number one Scottie Scheffler and 2020 champion Bryson DeChamebeau, both of whom carded opening 67s.
Masters champion Jon Rahm and fellow European Ryder Cup heavy-hitter Viktor Hovland are both reasonably well placed after rounds of one-under rounds of 69.
With the leaders setting a scorching pace, Shane Lowry and Seamus Power both sit clustered in the pack after opening rounds of 72.
Lowry, whose best finish at the US Open was tied-third at Oakmont in 2016, ended with closing bogeys on 17 and 18 to slip back to two-over, and 10 strokes adrift of the leaders.
The 2019 Open champion had a colourful opening to his round, beginning with a birdie at the par-5 first hole, following it with a dropped stroke at the second, before clipping his approach into three feet for another birdie at the third.
Successive bogeys on six and seven pushed him back over par, though he regained a stroke with a birdie at the par-five eighth hole.
His back nine was more sedate, with eight successive pars from nine to 16 until a messy finish, with a wayward drive on 17 and a duffed chip on 18 costing him bogeys for a 72.
Power's round contained bogeys at two of the course's three par-5s, with further dropped strokes at 12 and the 18th. Though the two-time PGA winner did notch birdies on eight and 10 to sit alongside Lowry on two over in tied-78th.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport in the wake of his round, Power expressed the hope that the USGA would not "freak out" over the low scoring on Thursday.
Padraig Harrington - who suggested yesterday that rounds this week could take six hours - is three-over par after an opening 73.
Belfast optometrist Matt McClean, who earned his entry to the 2023 Masters and US Open after winning last year's US Mid-Amateur, also began with a 73, recovering from an early double-bogey to register three birdies to sit one adrift of Lowry and Power.
With additional reporting: PA
