US Open: Dream start for Wolverhampton's Aaron Rai
Wolverhampton’s Aaron Rai made a dream start to his first ever Major tournament – when he birdied the first hole at the US Open.
The 22-year-old former Wolverhampton Grammar School pupil, whose family still live in nearby Perton, qualified for the showpiece event at Erin Hills, Wisconsin, after a stunning breakthrough year on the European Challenge Tour.
The US Open course has sparked controversy over its
super-tough rough – and Rai found the long grass on the fifth hole.
He went on to make bogey there as well at the seventh, 14th and 15th holes.
However, it remained a solid round for Rai, a regular at Patshull Park and the 3 Hammers complex in Coven. And he finished with a flourish, with eagle at the 18th to end the day one over par.
“It was great,” said Rai. “The atmosphere was amazing.
“Even though we were out very early in the morning there were good crowds from the very start. A lot of the grandstands had quite a few people in as well and you heard some pretty loud noises around the course.
“It was an amazing experience although I wasn’t aware of sharing the lead after one hole – maybe 71 holes early!”
“You have to treat each tournament as similar as possible,” added Rai.
“It’s amazing to get a taste of it.”
