Kiwi golfer Ryan Fox has quickly fallen off the pace in his opening round at the US Open at Brookline, Massachusetts.
Fox fired a four-over par 74 to sit tied for 102nd at The Country Club course - eight shots behind leader Adam Hadwin of Canada.
Chasing his first Major, the Aucklander couldn't replicate the strong form that has seen him claim one win and two second places on the DP World Tour.
Fox's round began in ominous fashion with a bogey on the first hole and he dropped another shot at the fifth.
The world No.63 responded with birdies at the sixth and eight holes, but recorded three more bogeys through the next five, capped by a brutal double bogey at the 15th.
Tournament favourite Rory McIlroy was among the five-man pack sitting one shot behind Hadwin, while Phil Mickelson struggled, a week after making his LIV Golf debut.
Playing on his 52nd birthday and three days after facing an onslaught of questions about his involvement with the Saudi-backed LIV series, Mickelson shot an unsightly eight-over-par 78 to sit near the bottom of the 156-player field.
Mickelson's self-imposed four-month hiatus, following comments he made about the LIV circuit and PGA Tour, was evident as soon as he set off in the tougher afternoon conditions.
The long-time fan favourite - a record six-time US Open runner-up - bogeyed three of his first five holes and then made a double-bogey at the par-three sixth, where he four-putted from 12 feet.
McIlroy, who came into the year's third Major fresh off a successful title defence in Canada, went out early and shot a three-under-par 67, maintaining a clean scorecard, until a bogey at the final hole.
That left Northern Ireland's McIlroy level with Englishman Callum Tarren, Swede David Lingmerth, American Joel Dahmen and South Africa's MJ Daffue.
"Even though I'm standing up here slightly frustrated that I bogeyed the last, it's a great start to the tournament," said McIlroy, who has gone nearly eight years since the last of his four Major wins. "Just basically did everything that you need to do at a US Open."
Leader Hadwin, who has never finished better than 24th in his 19 Major appearances, carded five birdies over a sizzling six-hole stretch on the front nine to surge up the leaderboard.
The 34-year-old Canadian, with one PGA Tour win to his name, showed plenty of poise the rest of the way and coolly offset a bogey at the 12th with a birdie at the following hole to regain sole possession atop a jam-packed leaderboard.
Among a pack of seven golfers sitting two shots off the pace was former world No.1 and 2016 US Open champion Dustin Johnson, who - like Mickelson - also decided to join the lucrative and controversial LIV series.
Of those golfers, none fared better than the long-hitting Johnson and the worst score of the bunch was the 12-over 82 carded by Australian Jed Morgan.
Meanwhile, Fox's compatriot Lydia Ko also had a testing opening day at the Meijer LPGA Classic at Michigan.
Ko carded a two-under par 70 to place her in a share of 45th place - seven shots behind leader Jennifer Kupcho of the US.
Reuters/Newshub
