124th U.S. Open - Day one digest

Everything you need to know from day one of the third Major Championship of the 2024 DP World Tour season.

We had a tie at the top, Ludvig Åberg was under control, eagles sent Matthieu Pavon soaring and everyone was holing from the sand on day one of the U.S. Open.

Here is everything you need to know from Thursday at Pinehurst Resort and Country Club.

McIlroy and Cantlay share lead

Rory McIlroy carded a brilliant, bogey-free 65 to join Patrick Cantlay at the top of the leaderboard after day one. The Northern Irishman won his first Major Championship at this event in 2011 and has since added three more but the last of his victories in one of golf's big four came almost a decade ago. He spoke on his arrival in North Carolina of being "as close as I've ever been" to ending that drought and he certainly lived up to that confidence over the notoriously difficult No. 2 Course as he moved to five under. American Cantlay had set the target earlier in the day with six birdies and a bogey to sit one shot ahead of Swede Åberg and two clear of countryman Bryson DeChambeau and Frenchman Pavon. “Certainly the Major Championships that I’ve won or the ones that I’ve played well at, I’ve always seemed to get off to a good start, and it’s nice to get off to another one," said McIlroy. “My short game was good early on. I chipped in at five and had a really good up-and-down on six and on eight. But apart from that, I think I hit every other green. It was a really controlled round of golf.”

Åberg keeps it under control

Åberg was pleased with the strategical discipline he showed as he continued to impress on the Major stage on the opening day of his U.S. Open debut. The Swede, who was just starting his professional career a year ago, mixed six birdies with two bogeys in a four-under-par 66 to sit one back. “I think staying very disciplined is important," he said. "It's really hard. Especially when you have a wedge in your hand or something like that where normally you would go at the pin, but you can't really do that here. Absolutely. It's the U.S. Open, it's supposed to be hard. That's what we're doing here."

Pavon feeling right at home at Pinehurst

Pavon credited his lowest round at a Major Championship in the first round to feeling at home around Pinehurst No. 2 due to similarities with European venues on the DP World Tour. The Frenchman, who combines playing on the PGA TOUR with the DP World Tour this season, sits in a tie for fourth on the leaderboard after a three-under-par 67. "The golf course plays tough," he said. "You really have to manage your way around. This is like a linksy, let's say, type of golf course. It looked a little bit familiar, and this is probably why I enjoyed so much being out there today.”

Double eagle

Nope, not an albatross, actually two eagles. Pavon had quite the day.

Just the 82 feet.....

.......from off the green. Take a bow Adam Scott.

Sand? What sand?

We had a full highlight reel of holed bunker shots on day one.