Joaquín Niemann is the protagonist and closes day 1 of the US Open as top ten

The ball appears remote controlled. Joaquín Niemann barely touches it with the stick, with a power that seems incapable of moving more than a few centimeters, but the ball advances, without accelerating or slowing down, and when it is about to pass the hole, it turns to the right and falls cleanly . The Chilean’s brilliant putt on hole three of the first round of the US Open is just one example of the good day that the Talagantean had in Mamaroneck, New York, the home field of the major, which left him eighth on the board.

Other? Everyone was warned that the roughs (the longest grass area, even off the fairway) at the club are terrifying. It happened to Niemann after the sixth hole: the ball was lost on that lawn and well away from the flag. Winged Foot is also known as the field of second shots, In other words, it is the most difficult thing to face, but the Chilean has mastery in this matter and although he did not leave her close enough to applaud, the distance of the putt was enough to dream of the birdie, which ended up falling.

That blessed approach was also key in the birdie on hole 9, when he closed the middle of the field with expectant 31 clubs and confidence, perhaps won three weeks ago at Olympia Fields, home of the BMW Championship, where most of the players succumbed, but the national fought the title. That strategy that had been amassing with the lessons learned in the PGA Championship he repeated it now in New York.

In the second half of the field the brightness was lower. At least in the numbers, as he scored bogeys on holes 10 and 13, Winged Foot’s last two par three. In the first one he went to the sand and in the other, he fell into the usual hard rough of the field. From then on he sealed pairs to go quiet to the Club House.

The number one in South America in the world rankings was the protagonist on this first day of the US Open, his debut for the 2020-2021 PGA Tour season. He was even on the podium when he had three holes played and when he closed the first half of the course, which he crossed immaculately, without bogeys.

In the end he finished 8th, tied with five other golfers, three strokes behind the leader, Justin Thomas, who at 65 broke the record for this course in the US Open. He is escorted by Patrick Reed, Matthew Wolff and Thomas Pieters:

Niemann also broke a mark: the best position for a Chilean after any round of a major, as he had previously been 16th after the first day of the 2018 PGA Championship. He did it by equaling the best round of a national in a “big”, Well that time he made 68 suits, also -2. They are the only two inaugural rounds under 72 hits among nationals.

This Friday, Joaco will play from 8.34 (Chile time) looking to go through for the second time in history, the cut in a major. It would be the first time for a national in five American Opens.