62! Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele Make Major Championship History in Round 1 of U.S. Open

The California natives jumped out fast in Thursday's early wave at Los Angeles Country Club.

LOS ANGELES — Part of the pre-U.S. Open festivities this week included honoring Johnny Miller on the 50th anniversary of his 63 in 1973 at Oakmont Country Club.

He was the first to shoot 63 in a U.S. Open, a mark that had not been beaten ... until Thursday.

Rickie Fowler poured in 10 birdies opposite two bogeys in the morning wave at par-70 Los Angeles Country Club to shoot 62, setting a U.S. Open record and joining Branden Grace (2017 British Open) as the only players with 62s in major championship golf.

His score was then matched 22 minutes later by Xander Schauffele, who fired a bogey-free 62. 

In other words, there were no 62s in 122 previous editions of the U.S. Open, then two in the first round of the 123rd.

Three birdies in a row for @RickieFowler and he moves two clear of the field at LACC. #USOpen pic.twitter.com/y43K55UYAg

— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 15, 2023

The two ended the day with a two-shot lead over Dustin Johnson and Wyndham Clark, who shot 6-under 64s in the afternoon.

The last time Rickie Fowler played in a U.S. Open, he had seven birdies for the entire week in a T49 finish in 2020 at Winged Foot.

Fowler's game began going south not long after that and he had fallen to 185th in the world before a T6 finish in the Fortinet Championship last fall.

Since then he has had five more top-10s and a runner-up at the Zozo Championship. He qualified for his first U.S. Open since 2020 by being in the top 60 of the Official World Golf Ranking. He's 45th in the world and 41st in the SI World Golf Rankings. 

His best finish in a U.S. Open is a T2 in 2014, when he finished eight shots behind Martin Kaymer at Pinehurst, N.C.

"The first few days this week I wasn't feeling very comfortable swinging and wasn't making many putts or hitting very good putts, so continue to get work in on the course as well as in the practice area, and finally a couple things clicked a bit yesterday," Fowler said.

"Then it was more just go out, trust it, and let things happen. I knew there was birdies to be made out here, but you have to drive it well and get the ball in position first. Yeah, did that, and from there just managed our way around really well." 

Xander Schauffele has not finished worse than T14 in six previous U.S. Opens, including three top-5 finishes. But like Fowler, Schauffele is still seeking his first major. The San Diego native is sixth in the world and fourth in the SI World Golf Rankings.

"I'd say the sun didn't come out and it was misting this morning, so I'd say the greens held a little bit more moisture than anticipated for myself at least," Schauffele said. "I think it made the greens sort of that more holeable speed almost, and then coming into greens you're able to pull some wedges back." 

Besides Johnny Miller, other U.S. Open 63s were shot by Jack Nicklaus (1980 at Baltusrol), Tom Weiskopf (also 1980 Baltusrol), Vijay Singh (2003 at Olympia Fields), Justin Thomas (2017 at Erin Hills) and Tommy Fleetwood (2018 at Shinnecock Hills).