Australian Jason Day insists the US Open course at the Merion Golf Club is much tougher than most predicted it would be. The world number 26 carded an even-par 70 in the opening round of the US Open, which was disrupted by rain and darkness on Thursday. The wet weather was expected to make the course easier to play, but Day said that was not the case. “It&aposs difficult. It&aposs very tough. People don&apost understand how much, there&aposs like subtle slopes on the greens. So if you leave yourself a 10-footer, they&aposre not very easy 10-foot putts to make,” Day said. “And it&aposs the US Open. It&aposs not that easy. I think everyone&aposs saying that they were going to rip it up because of how easy the course conditions were playing. It&aposs not as easy as everyone thinks. “And plus you add a US Open, the US Open name and the trophy, there&aposs a lot of pressure there as well to get out and play well.” Englishman Luke Donald is the overnight leader at four under through 13 holes, a shot clear of Phil Mickelson (67) and Adam Scott, who has played 11 holes. Day said the course was &aposvery fair&apos on players despite most struggling to shoot an under-par round. “US Opens, they want to test you, they want to test how good your game is and with the amount of irons that you are hitting off tees and how fresh the rough is,” he said. “I think that the course played fair for a US Open.” Mathew Goggin, who is two under through six holes, is happy to have to play over one-a-half rounds on Friday. “It&aposs a good thing though because if you play well you can get into a nice flow because you get to play, finish your round, go straight back out there and play again,” he said. “You&aposre not going home and waiting 12 hours to play your second round. So you can really use it to your advantage if you get on a roll.”
Author: Omnisport