

Hadwin has his work cut out for him the rest of the way as suitable chasers are lining up at the door. The Canadian is in the midst of a sneaky strong season, which at one point included three consecutive top-10 finishes but has yet to taste contention in a major championship.

However, that entire group would be surpassed by Adam Hadwin, who turned in the round of the day with a 4-under 66 in the afternoon. Just basically did everything that you need to do at a U.S. I certainly putted well, and I hit the ball in the right spots, and I hit a lot of greens, gave myself plenty of chances. I felt like I did most things well today. "Even though I'm standing up here slightly frustrated that I bogeyed the last, it's a great start to the tournament. "You'd take 67 around this golf course any day," said McIlroy. Dropping a shot late in his round, McIlroy would later be matched by by Joel Dahmen, MJ Daffue and a pair of European counterparts at 3 under. It began early Thursday with Rory McIlroy vaulting to the top of the leaderboard with a nearly flawless 3-under 67 effort. Open as big names have shot out of the gates at The Country Club. The world's best are off and running at the 122nd U.S.
