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Burns, Gagne in Prime Position at U.S. Open

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Burns, Gagne in Prime Position at U.S. Open

Live Scoring

Shinnecock Hills, N.Y.Sam Burns (1-over par 71) and Luis Gagne (3-over par 73) started off the 2018 U.S. Open with good scoring rounds in tough conditions at Shinnecock Hills Country Club on Thursday.

Playing with winds in the 15-20 miles per hour range, the twosome didn’t let it affect their play on the opening day of the toughest major of the year. Burns sits in a tie for sixth while Gagne is tied for 19th.

Burns and Gagne both had a bit of a rough time going out with front nine scores of 37 (2-over par), but refocused and closed with solid back nines. After a double bogey on 12 to push himself to 4-over par for the day, Burns, the 2017 Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year, went on to birdie three of his final five holes to make a late surge and bring his total tally back to 1-over par. Burns will go off bright and early on Friday morning at 5:45 a.m. CT.

Playing the front nine to the tune of seven pars and two bogeys, Gagne got his back nine off to a good start with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole that played 418 yards. Bombing it 337 yards off the tee, Gagne knocked an approach shot from 82 yards out to about eight feet and then rolled that in to register his first birdie of the day. His only other birdie on the day came on the par-5 16th when he dropped in another useful approach to about six feet to lead to his second birdie of the day. The birdie on the 16th was sandwiched by a double bogey on 15 and a bogey on 17. In the clubhouse at 3-over par, Gagne is currently tied atop the amateur leaderboard with Will Grimmer (Ohio State). Gagne will tee off at 1:31 p.m. CT on Friday.

Jacob Bergeron (11-over par/T134th) and Philip Barbaree (12-over par/T143rd) will tee off on Friday at 1:20 p.m. CT and 7:46 a.m. CT, respectively.