Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele both shoot historic rounds at 2023 U.S. Open

Rickie Fowler is back and in a big way. The former Oklahoma State star played his best golf in a major in several years on Thursday at Los Angeles Country Club. He fired an opening round of 62 in the 123rd version of the U.S. Open. He was joined by a player who is no stranger to remarkable consistency in the majors, Xander Schauffele.

The opening round 62 by both players gives them the lowest round ever shot by any golfer in U.S. Open history. They tied Branden Grace’s 62 at the 2017 British Open Championship for the lowest round in major championship history. Both golfers are native Californians, but both have taken very different career paths the past few years. They both currently sit at 8-under par after their historic opening rounds.

Fowler’s talent has always been undeniable throughout his career. But his game mysteriously disappeared the past few years, as it can for even the very best of golfers from time to time. It can be a confusing and confounding game for many. Fowler is an excellent example of that.

He plummeted all the way down to 185th in the world rankings at one point the past few years. Fowler didn’t even qualify for the 2022 U.S. Open and failed to make his way into the tournament through sectional qualifying. He also didn’t qualify for the 2022 Masters, the first time in 11 years that he hadn’t done so.

Rickie Fowler has been able to regain form in the past year

Fowler has regained his excellent form in the past year on the PGA Tour. In the past two tournaments, he’s finished T6 (Charles Schwab Challenge) and T9 (The Memorial). Early in 2022, he also had a pair of top 10 finishes–a T2 at the Zozo Championship and a T6 at the Fortinet Championship.

Fowler has eight top five finishes thus far in the majors so far. He’ll look to continue to finish strong the rest of this weekend. A great start is nice, but the first round is just 1/4th of the tournament. There’s still plenty of golf left for both players.

Xander Schauffele has come painstakingly close to winning a major during his impressive career (please see the 2021 Masters). He’s racked up ten top 10 finishes in the majors thus far, including a T10 at the 2023 Masters. Schauffele has had a remarkable knack for showing up in the majors over the years.

Many people feel it’s only a matter of time before Schauffele brings a major home and it certainly feels that way. Will this weekend be the time he finally gets it done? There are so many amazingly talented players in the game of professional golf today, it’s certainly not getting any easier to win them.

It should be an exciting weekend for fans to just kick back and enjoy the immaculate course that is LACC and the incredibly talented golfers playing the course.