The first round of the 2016 U.S. Open was suspended for the day just before 4 p.m. ET due to inclement weather. Play was stopped two times prior to the final suspension, which meant only nine players completed their first round play on Thursday and none of the afternoon tee times even got on course.
Among the 69 players that will have to come back on Friday to complete their first rounds are two of the pre-tournament favorites: Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.
Spieth is in respectable position at 1 over thru 11 holes after starting on No. 10. He was as low as 1 under early in his round, making birdie on his third hole of the day, but has since made two bogeys and not posted another red figure. The defending U.S. Open champion is playing smart, safe golf, which would normally be the order of the day at Oakmont. However, with soft, calm conditions early on, he did miss a bit of a chance to make a move into red figures on Thursday, though he is still T16 for the tournament with seven holes to play in his first round.
While Spieth spun the tires on Thursday, McIlroy went backwards in his first 13 holes. McIlroy is currently T38 at 4 over with five holes to play and had back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13 to end his day. The 2012 U.S. Open champion had high expectations but has to be frustrated with his handling of Oakmont in conditions that lent themselves to lower scores.
He wasn't the only highly-ranked golfer to struggle on Thursday, though. Rickie Fowler's first round woes at majors continued on Thursday as he walked off the course at 6 over thru 12 holes. Fowler, who opened with an 80 at the Masters to knock himself out of contention after the first round, appears to be putting himself in a similar position at Oakmont.
It wasn't all black figures for golfers in the top 10 of the world golf rankings, however, as Bubba Watson had one of the best rounds of the day going at the time of suspension. Watson is 2 under thru 14 holes and got there in extremely Bubba fashion.
The rest of the favorites like Jason Day, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson were all part of the afternoon wave of tee times that have yet to begin their first round.
