South Africa’s Justin Harding overcame a horrific triple-bogey early in his round to post a 2-over par 73 on the opening day of the US Open at Pebble Beach on Thursday, writes JOHN GOLIATH.
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Harding, who started on the back nine, started off with a bogey on the par-4 10th and then the 11th hole nearly derailed his round before it even got started.
The South African pulled his tee shot into the penalty area. He took a drop and proceeded to crawl towards the hole before getting on to the green with his fifth shot. Harding then two-putted for a messy seven.
At 4-over par through two, Harding certainly had a lot of work to do, and managed to birdie the two par-fives to make the turn with half the damage restored.
Harding, who finished T12 at the Masters and T54 at the PGA Championship, played the last nine holes in even-par to steady the ship.
Meanwhile, Branden Grace has some work to do in the second round after he carded a 3-over 74.
He also had a disastrous start to his round, opening up with a double bogey on No 10, before dropping more shots at the 11th and the 15th.
Grace made his solitary birdie on the par-5 6th, and will need to get more red numbers on the card if he is going to survive the weekend cut.
