Rickie Fowler ties record with a 65, leads U.S. Open by one

The U.S. Open is supposed be tough, with a course usually doctored to make the world’s best golfers seem mortal.

Thursday, in the first round of the 117th gathering of this event, Rickie Fowler proved to be nearly immortal, tying a record that hadn’t been equaled in 37 years.

He birdied all four par-fives at Erin Hills, totaling 2,448 yards, and picked up three more on par-fours to finish at seven-under 65, the lowest first-round score relative to par since Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf did it in 1980.

“It is always cool to be part of some sort of history in golf,” Fowler said. “But I’d rather be remembered for something that’s done on Sunday.”

Fowler benefited from more than solid shots and sharp putting. He played in the morning before the winds picked up, making both drives and approach shots more difficult.

But he wasn’t the only one to have a good round on a day when the U.S. Golf Assn. probably was red-faced over all the red numbers.

Paul Casey and Xander Schauffele sit one shot back, both having played in the late afternoon and early evening when the winds had subsided.

In one of the odder stats, the top five players in the world finished at 19 over.

Suffering the most was former world No. 1 Jason Day, who had two triple bogeys for the first time in his career. He finished seven-over 79 and is in danger of missing the cut.

Rory McIlroy, considered one of the favorites, spent a lot of the afternoon in the deep fescue and finished at 78. Defending champion Dustin Johnson shot a 75.

As is usually the case, the USGA will set up the course to play more difficult after Thursday. Forty-four players in the field of 156 were under par, beating the former record of 39.

The thing about a U.S. Open is everything can change in a minute, so anyone who thinks this barrage of birdies will continue doesn’t really understand this tournament.

The weather forecast has backed off on the rain that was expected Friday and Saturday, which will allow the greens to dry out and become more difficult to hold.

If you try to measure first-round success against the final outcome, realize that Nicklaus won the 1980 tournament at Baltusrol, but was just one shot better than his initial 18. Weiskopf went from seven under to eight over in his last 54 holes.

“I don’t need a whole lot more after putting seven up today,” Fowler said. “I’ll just take the cumulative of that for three days and I’ll wait and go over there and see what that does.”

Fowler has the unofficial title of being the best player to have never won a major, a label he inherited when Sergio Garcia won the Masters earlier this year.

It’s not that he hasn’t come close. In 2014, he finished fifth at the Masters, second at the U.S. Open and British Open and third in the PGA. He has won four PGA Tour events, including the 2015 Players Championship and the Honda Classic this year.

“It was nice getting off to a quick start, birdieing 11, and kind of getting a bonus on 12 after hitting it in the first cut off the tee,” said Fowler, who started on the back nine. “Then from there, I was just taking advantage of the par-fives. So really I just had to add a couple more, and that was the round.”

Fowler had no bogeys. He birdied the 11th (six-foot putt), 12th (14 feet), 14 (12 feet) and was on the par-five 18th in two and two putted from 47 feet. Then on the front side, he birdied No. 1 (seven feet), No. 2 (two feet) and No. 7 (13 feet).

He tees off at 1:36 p.m. local time Friday and probably will have to contend with tougher weather conditions. Casey will switch to the morning with an 8:13 a.m. start and Schauffele at 8:46 a.m.

England’s Casey, 39, has won one tournament on the PGA Tour, with his best finish in a major being a third in the 2010 British Open.

“I was hoping and praying I could get the same kind of conditions … and be half as good as Rickie Fowler,” Casey said. “So to be right behind him, I’m ecstatic.”

As much experience as Casey has, Schauffele lacks it. Schauffele, 23, is a San Diego native who played as a freshman at Long Beach State before transferring to San Diego State. His best finish on the Tour was a tie for fifth at the Sanderson Farms Championship in October.

Schauffele had six birdies and no bogeys and missed a 16-foot putt for birdie on No. 9, his final hole, which would have put him in the record books with Fowler.

Schauffele admitted he was nervous playing in his first major.

“Walking over I was fine,” he said. “[When they] announced my name I was a little more nervous. But when I got the first shot away and I was pretty much calm after that.”

Two shots back at 67 are England’s Tommy Fleetwood, left-hander Brian Harman and Brooks Koepka. Fleetwood and Harman had bogey-free rounds; Koepka bogeyed the par-four eighth hole. All played in the morning.

“We had the best of conditions,” Fleetwood said. “This morning the breeze was the perfect amount, and it wasn’t strong enough to have any effect. And the course was as receptive as it’s going to be.”

At 68 were Patrick Reed, Kevin Na, Australia’s Marc Leishman and Canada’s Adam Hadwin. Everyone but Reed played in the afternoon.

Masters champion Garcia started off with an eagle on the par-five first hole but then his game flattened out with three birdies and three bogeys. He finished at two under.

Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune contributed to this story.

john.cherwa@latimes.com

@jcherwa