It tells you something about the tournament when 3-over 73 is the most stacked place on the leaderboard. Five major winners with a combined eight majors are breathing down each other’s necks at T49. Keegan Bradley, Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed, Scottie Scheffler, Gary Woodland–every one of them struggled out of the gates at Oakmont.

Scroll the leaderboard a bit further.

You have Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Lucas Glover, Phil Mickelson, Wyndham Clark, and other A-listers bunched together at 4-over (T62). Rory, actually, opened with a bang—just watch him rip nearly a 400-yard drive on the par-5 12th. By the end, that was more of a flash in the pan.

Here’s the bigger picture: 

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler carded six bogeys. His elite ball striking went for a trip and never came back. Scheffler hit only 7 of the 14 fairways and reached 11 of the 18 greens in regulation. He is trailing the leader by seven shots. To put that into context, no one has overcome a seven-stroke deficit after the first round to win the U.S. Open since Lee Janzen in 1998.

After the first round, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm are inside the top ten. Close behind are Jordan Spieth and Collin Morikawa. Still, it’s very much unlike a major championship leaderboard. But on the positive side, it’s just 18 holes, and hey, anything can happen at the U.S. Open.

So, here's hoping for a tooth-and-nail fight on Sunday.

You might have caught some of the first-round glimpses, but surely missed these few moments:

Amnesia?: Bryson forgot a cardinal rule of golf—you don’t get to place your ball wherever you want. On the par-5 12th, DeChambeau actually did exactly that instead of dropping his ball like you’ll see here.

Angry Lowry: The Irishman was pissed. He was stuck in the rough, and his previous shot had flown only 17 feet to embed itself in the rough again. His frustration was evident with what he did to this mic. Karma struck back seconds later when he duffed his next shot, too.

Historic: Patrick Reed now has a share of history as the only third person to card an albatross at the U.S. Open. He claimed that it wasn’t even his best one. But we disagree. And after you watch this beauty below, you might too:

Flex Moment: Ben Hogan’s caddie was at Oakmont yesterday. Yes, the man who carried Hogan’s bag when he won the 1953 U.S. Open at this very course—Carl Nasse was at round 1. And he wore this t-shirt, flexing a bit of history!

90-footer: 90 feet from the pin. Which club are you choosing? Pitching wedge? Wrong answer. Reigning U.S. amateur champ Josele Ballester took out his putter, and look what he pulled off!

The round also saw JJ Spaun go bogey-free to match the lowest score record for Thursday at the U.S. Open (more on that below). Thriston Lawrence—who had missed 7 of his last 8 cuts coming into this week, by the way—sits second. It's going to be an interesting Friday!

JJ Spaun credits Rory McIlroy for his resurgence, but that takes nothing away from his own skills. The 34-year-old was the only player in the field without a bogey yesterday. Spaun was steady—the kind of steady Oakmont calls for. He made four birdies when he got the chance. And he was satisfied with that. Boring golf, you say? Well, boring golf keeps you on top.

Spaun, by the way, nailed 18 of the 19 putts from inside 20 feet, six of them were from seven feet or more. Just watch how calm he was while nailing this 16-footer. He gained four shots over the field in putting.

His front-nine 31, in fact, is an Oakmont record. And this is only his second-ever U.S. Open. If he can keep the momentum going, he may just find his best-ever major finish, too. Presently, it's a T23 (2022 PGA Championship). Good luck, Spaun.

The Tour now has a CEO. Longtime NFL executive Brian Rolapp will now be taking charge at the helm. Jay Monahan will remain the commissioner, while Rolapp is expected to work closely with Monahan to grow the Tour.

Albeit the news has been confirmed by multiple sources, neither the PGA Tour nor the NFL has confirmed this yet, likely to avoid it taking attention away from the ongoing U.S. Open. But hey, it's out there now, so congratulations, Rolapp, on becoming the first-ever PGA Tour CEO!