Xander Schauffele shoots the second 62 in U.S. Open history

LOS ANGELES – On the 50^th anniversary of Johnny Miller shooting 63 to win the 1973 U.S. Open, two Southern California natives shattered the mark within 22 minutes of each other, posting rounds of 8-under 62 at Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course to share the opening-round lead at the 123^rd U.S. Open.

Rickie Fowler, 34, of Murrieta, California, carded 10 birdies and two bogeys to set the mark, but it didn’t take long for him to have company as Xander Schauffele, 29, of San Diego, matched the historic 62 with a bogey-free performance.

“It’s not really what you expect playing a U.S. Open,” said Schauffele of how he and Fowler shot five strokes better than the next best score in the morning wave. “But monkey see, monkey do. Was just chasing Rickie up the leaderboard. Glad he was just in front of me.”

U.S. Open: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole

There had been 66,448 rounds in majors since 1983 and just one 62 before Thursday’s opening round at LACC. The pair of 62’s matched the all-time lowest 18-hole score in any of the four men’s majors, previously belonging solely to South Africa’s Branden Grace, who set the mark in the third round of the 2017 British Open at Royal Birkdale.

“It was a great day,” Fowler said. “Close to a dream start.”

Do this again tomorrow @RickieFowler ? https://t.co/7eY2SFH91u

— Xander Schauffele (@XSchauffele) June 15, 2023

Playing two groups behind Fowler, Schauffele had a 24-foot birdie putt on his closing hole for 61.

Schauffele, No. 6 in the world, is making his seventh start at the U.S. Open and hasn’t finished outside the top 15 in the championship — T-14 last year, with the other five finishes all in the top seven. Schauffele took advantage of a cloud-covered day where the marine layer never burned off in the morning, making for good scoring conditions and allowing for aggressive play.