U.S. Open tee times 2017: Pairings and start time for Friday's round

Everyone is looking up at Rickie Fowler after a record-tying opening round.

Rickie Fowler proved Erin Hills’ record-setting length wouldn’t intimidate him en route to tying the record for lowest opening round in U.S. Open history. Now he needs to keep that momentum going to win the first major golf tournament of his career.

Fowler dusted Erin Hills on Thursday on his way to a -7 score that matched Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf as the best start in Open history. He waylaid concerns about the course’s distance (7,741 unforgiving yards, including a 675-yard behemoth of an 18th hole) and the knee-high fescue that had other pros grumbling before the tournament. (Though in a twist, one of those pros — Kevin Na — found his way onto the leaderboard, in part by avoiding the tall grass against which he’d railed.)

It was a strong start for the first-ever Open in America’s Dairyland. Wisconsin had previously played host to the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits but never had the honor of hosting the nation’s biggest open event until 2017. Erin Hills, a cow pasture up until 2004, was built with the U.S. Open in mind, and it shows. Its combination of American length and Scottish links-style openness allows wind, distance, and a multitude of bunkers to mash the hopes of even the most hardened golfer.

But it wasn’t enough — yet — to drag Fowler down. He was joined on the happy side of par by a trio of veterans looking to earn a late-career renaissance. Lee Westwood, Ernie Els, and Angel Cabrera, a combined 138 years on this Earth between them, all put themselves in position to make a run at the top of the leaderboard with solid Thursday rounds. Between them and the No. 1 slot are younger standbys like Brandt Snedeker, Patrick Reed, J.B. Holmes, and Brooks Koepka.

Round 2’s action tees off bright and early Friday as the leaders jockey for position and the golfers in the middle of the pack look for some job security going into the weekend’s championship rounds. As Erin Hills greens dry out — the forecast over the next few days calls for the kind of sun and wind that turn lush putting surfaces into concrete — the course will only get more challenging.

Here’s the full starting list for Friday’s round — the last before cuts are made. All times are Eastern. Featured grounds are in bold.