Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox is sitting in a share of 20th, after his three-over-par first round at the US Open at Shinnecock Hills on Friday morning (NZ time).
The 31-year-old dropped two shots on his final two holes to sit four shots behind leaders Russell Henley, Scott Piercy, Ian Poulter, and Dustin Johnson, who are all on one-under.
On most days, three-over would be considered a bad day for any golfer, but it ended up being a respectable score, with many top names struggling in testing conditions at the New York course.
The greens were cut extra-short, meaning missed a miss-puts could be costly, while winds gusted reached up to 32km/h.
"I'm exhausted," Fox told Newshub. "It was brutal out there and it was some of the hardest conditions I've played in.
"I'm happy with the round, it was a good start and it tested every part of my game. I was happy to get 73 at the end of the day."
Big guns Phil Mickelson (77) Jordan Spieth (78) and Jason Day (79) are well down the leaderboard, while former champion Rory McIlroy carded a 10-over 80.
Fellow Kiwi Tim Wilkinson had less success Friday, shooting a six-over 76 for a tie of 86th spot.
England's Scott Gregory had a round to forget, as he became the first player in 16 years to shoot 90 or worse at the US Open with a 22-over-par 92.
The 23-year-old's round included two triple-bogeys, three double-bogeys, 10 bogeys and three pars on a challenging day.
"I knew it was going to be tough," Gregory said after his round.
"It was windy, and I've played in wind before, so that wasn't the issue.
"The issue was I didn't hit it on the short stuff very much."
Newshub.
