KEEP THAT CARD
Sepp Straka: A native Austrian who moved to Valdosta, Ga., when he was 14, Straka's first career round at a major championship was a good one: four birdies and one bogey for a 3-under 68.
TOSS THAT CARD
C.T. Pan: Less than two months after his first PGA Tour victory at the RBC Heritage, the No. 49-ranked golfer in the world made double bogey on four of his first 10 holes and finished with 80.
ON THE COURSE WITH …
Scott Piercy: By missing the cut at last week's Canadian Open, Piercy risked his spot at the U.S. Open. But Piercy remained in the top 60 in the world rankings, and he took advantage of an early tee time Thursday by playing his first six holes in 5 under, including an eagle on No. 6. Piercy, who finished at 4-under 67, said he might back out of the 3M Open in Blaine after playing in seven of the past nine weeks.
U.S. OPEN MOMENT
Tony Finau: With an afternoon tee time, the recent addition to the 3M Open field spent the morning watching the tournament … from a big-screen TV set up in the backyard of a home overlooking the 18th hole. Finau, who finished fifth last year at Shinnecock Hills when he double bogeyed the final hole, then went out and shot 3 over.
CHIP SHOTS
• This year's return to Pebble Beach for the fifth time is also the 20th anniversary of Payne Stewart's second and final U.S. Open victory, at Pinehurst. He died in plane crash four months later. "He was fun to be around, he was one of the jokesters," Tiger Woods said. "And as hard as he gave the needle, he could take it and that's what made it always fun."
• Tour veteran Rory Sabbatini aced the 202-yard, par-3 12th hole on two hops. It's the 45th hole-in-one in U.S. Open history, the eighth in one at Pebble Beach and the first since Zach Johnson made one at Pinehurst's ninth hole in 2014's final round.
• Fox spent some time during Thursday night's telecast with Hall of Famer Johnny Miller, who retired earlier this year as NBC's lead golf analyst. Miller last broadcast a U.S. Open in 2014.
• Auburn's Jovan Rebula shot 70, second among amateurs. He's two-time U.S. Open winner Ernie Els' nephew. "I would never in my wildest dreams have thought that I'd still be playing and he'd be playing with me at a U.S. Open," said Els, who shot 75.
