PGA Tour star Patrick Cantlay surged to the top of the leaderboard on day one at the 2024 US Open.
Cantlay, 32, carded six birdies with just one bogey for a superb opening round of 5-under 65.
The World No.9 has incredibly not won on the PGA Tour for 22 months, and he has only notched two top-10 finishes all season.
But despite the indifferent run of recent form, he put all of that to one side to hit the front in the morning wave at a brutally difficult Pinehurst No.2.
Many consider Cantlay one of the best players without a major to his name, and after watching his best mate Xander Schauffele pick up his maiden major at the US PGA last month, you have to feel it's given the 2021 FedEx Cup champion added motivation to get the job done this week.
Cantlay is making his 30th major appearance this week. He has only made four top-10 finishes in his major career so far.
Sweden's Ludvig Aberg is also off to a hot start following a 4-under 66 on his US Open debut.
The 24-year-old is making just his third major start and he only turned pro some 12 months ago.
Matthieu Pavon and Tony Finau are also off to solid starts.
LIV Golf's Sergio Garcia, who made it into the US Open at the last minute as a first alternate, took full advantage by being the only player in the morning wave of groups to post a round without a bogey.
Garcia posted a solid 1-under 69 to move into early contention for a second career major title.
LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka hit the top of the board in the early stages of the first round but he stumbled on the back nine for a level-par 70.
That score was matched by his playing partner Collin Morikawa, who finished with back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18.
Elsewhere, Tiger Woods slumped to a 4-over 74.
Woods birdied his first hole at the par-5 10th but it was all downhill from there.
The three-time US Open champion made six bogeys on the round and just two birdies to fall well down the field on day one.
World No.1 and two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, US PGA champion Xander Schauffele and four-time major champion Rory McIlroy are on the course.
Scheffler is going in search of a second major title of the season and a sixth victory in his last nine starts.
The first groups have just ripped their tee shots down the 1st and 10th holes.
Michael McGowan, Carter Jenkins and Logan McAllister are walking down the par-4 1st right now, while Rico Hoey, Tom McKibbin and Matteo Manassero are striding down the par-5 10th.
Fire up the kettle and settle in to live first round updates of the 2024 US Open.
Tiger Woods is off in half an hour.
The USGA has confirmed a record prize purse of $21.5m at the 2024 US Open. That is $1.5m more than last year's tournament at LA Country Club.
The winner of the 2024 US Open at Pinehurst No.2 will pocket a whopping $4.3m, which is $300,000 more than Wyndham Clark won in 2023.
| FINISH | EARNINGS |
| 1 | $4,300,000.00 |
| 2 | $2,160,000.00 |
| 3 | $1,702,705.00 |
| 4 | $1,513,220.00 |
| 5 | $1,160,625.00 |
| 6 | $814,435.00 |
| 7 | $608,030.00 |
| 8 | $544,563.31 |
| 9 | $480,848.34 |
| 10 | $452,691.66 |
| 11 | $413,123.34 |
| 12 | $381,976.66 |
| 13 | $355,925.00 |
| 14 | $328,500.00 |
| 15 | $304,993.34 |
| 16 | $285,405.00 |
| 17 | $269,735.00 |
| 18 | $254,063.33 |
| 19 | $238,393.33 |
| 20 | $222,721.67 |
| 21 | $209,205.00 |
| 22 | $195,690.00 |
| 23 | $182,565.00 |
| 24 | $170,420.00 |
| 25 | $159,841.67 |
| 26 | $150,831.67 |
| 27 | $143,975.00 |
| 28 | $137,903.33 |
| 29 | $132,026.67 |
| 30 | $126,150.00 |
| 31 | $120,273.33 |
| 32 | $114,396.66 |
| 33 | $108,520.00 |
| 34 | $103,231.66 |
| 35 | $98,921.66 |
| 36 | $94,611.66 |
| 37 | $90,498.34 |
| 38 | $86,581.67 |
| 39 | $82,663.34 |
| 40 | $78,745.00 |
| 41 | $74,828.33 |
| 42 | $70,910.00 |
| 43 | $66,991.66 |
| 44 | $63,075.00 |
| 45 | $59,156.66 |
| 46 | $55,631.66 |
| 47 | $52,105.00 |
| 48 | $48,775.00 |
| 49 | $46,816.67 |
| 50 | $44,856.67 |
| 51 | $43,681.67 |
| 52 | $42,701.65 |
| 60 | $42,000.00 |
Now check out the prize money at past US Open tournaments...
| 2014 | $9m |
| 2015 | $10m |
| 2016 | $10m |
| 2017 | $12m |
| 2018 | $12m |
| 2019 | $12.5m |
| 2020 | $12.5m |
| 2021 | $12.5m |
| 2022 | $17.5m |
| 2023 | $20m |
We're just minutes away from the first round of the US Open getting underway.
Let the traditional US Open music play...
Take a look at the hole locations for the first round of the 2024 US Open.
One of the keys to mastering Pinehurst No.2 this week will be mastering the lightning quick greens, which are reportedly running at 13 on the stimp, which is rapido to the say the least!
While the greens on this Donald Ross gem are large in size, they are small in the sense players will be aiming at specific landing areas to avoid the multiple roll-off areas that will leave devilish chips or long putts.
Many are predicting a winning score to be low single-digits under par.
Hi ladies and gents, Andy Roberts, editor of GolfMagic.com here to bring you live early updates from the first round of the 2024 US Open at a glorious Pinehurst No.2 in North Carolina.
The stage is set, and we're now less than 20 minutes away from the first groups heading off the 1st and 10th tees.
Tiger Woods is off in an hour's time (7.29am local, 12.29pm UK).
One of the pre-tournament favourites in two-time major champion Collin Morikawa is off some 10 minutes later, and he's joined by LIV Golf's five-time major champion Brooks Koepka and two-time US PGA champion Justin Thomas.
You've got to wait much later in the day for the marquee grouping of the day though.
That comes at 1.14pm (6.14pm UK) in the shape of World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, World No.2 Xander Schauffele and World No.3 Rory McIlroy.
VIEW FULL R1 US OPEN TEE TIMES
