History was made on the first day of the 116th U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club. The 12th hole became the longest hole in the tournament\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
The 684-yard par 5 No. 12 bested the previous record by 13 yards. The longest hole had been No. 16 at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, also a par 5 that played 671 yards in 2012.<\/p>\n
The distance was difficult on the players, but No. 12 was far from the most difficult hole of the day. That distinction went to No. 9, the 477-yard par 4 that yielded 22 bogeys and only two birdies on the day.<\/p>\n
But No. 12 was challenging in many ways. Most par 5s are scoring opportunities, but no golfer had an eagle in the rain-shortened opening round and there were only five birdies. Not surprising, some of those came from players atop the leader board.<\/p>\n
Lee Westwood, who is tied for fourth place, had one of them. So did Daniel Berger and Matthew Fitzpatrick, who are tied for eighth.<\/p>\n
The wet conditions threw a curveball toward the players, who had played practice rounds in previous days under dry conditions. The par 5s on Thursday played even longer with softer fairways.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompletely different golf course than we played in the practice round,\u201d defending U.S. Open champion Jordan Spieth said. \u201cI mean, night and day.\u201d<\/p>\n