Four players, including Dustin Johnson, led after Thursday.

The 118th U.S. Open unfolds this weekend across four days at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club in Southampton, New York. It’s the fifth time the club has hosted America’s national championship.

The tournament first visited these grounds in 1896, the year of the second U.S. Open ever, and has since returned in 1986, 1995, 2004, and now 2018. The course has been a consistently challenging test for the world’s best players and should be again this year. Its fairways are about 15 yards wider than they were in ‘04, but the track is still difficult.

This year’s 156-man field includes all of the world’s best players and biggest names. It includes 12 past U.S. Open champions, with Tiger Woods headlining. Woods is playing in this event for the first time since an injury-addled effort led to him missing the cut at Chambers Bay in 2015. He seeks his first U.S. Open win (and major win of any kind) since 2008, when he beat Rocco Mediate in a dramatic playoff at Torrey Pines. But a bad Thursday, when he shot an 8-over 78, has put those plans in real jeopardy.

Throughout the tournament, we’ll update this post with scores, highlights, observations, and more from Shinnecock Hills.

Live updates on Friday

All times are Eastern.

11:08 a.m.

Tony Finau is -1 on the day and within striking distance of the top 10, so now seems as good a time as any to remind everyone he was leading the Masters literally hours after dislocating his dang ankle.

10:53 a.m.

Justin Thomas is making moves from the marquee group. This birdie on the 18th hole pushed him to +3 and into a tie for 14th place.

He’ll have nine holes left to complete his rally. Group-mate Tiger Woods is currently +8 and in real danger of missing the cut.

10:10 a.m

Dustin Johnson now holds the top spot on the leaderboard by himself at -3 thanks to a birdie on the 610-yard, par 5 seventh hole.

9:45 p.m.

It’s still Dustin Johnson and Russell Henley atop the leaderboard — today at -2. Ian Poulter and Scott Piercy, Round 1’s other co-leaders, won’t tee off until the afternoon. At -2 on the day through eight holes, Rafa Cabrera Bello is the early session’s big mover so far.

8:29 a.m.

The group with Woods, Dustin Johnson, and Justin Thomas is on the course. Woods, who shot 8 over on Thursday, started his day with a birdie on the par-4 10th hole. Johnson followed with a birdie at the par-3 11th to move to 2 under. Thomas is 1 over.

The leaderboard

Here’s the official board, which updates in real time. The top scorers after Round 1:

Hole locations for Friday

Streaming and TV channels on Friday

Streaming: USOpen.com and the U.S. Open app, which is on the App Store, Google Play, and the like. Plus FOX Sports GO and the FOX Sports app after 10 a.m. ET.

TV: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m ET on FS1, 4:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. ET on FOX.

Earlier updates from Thursday’s first round

All times are Eastern.

8:36 p.m.

The course was brutally hard. More from Brendan Porath:

Thursday’s test at the U.S. Open should be praised simply for being entertaining. Not for nostalgia. And it wasn’t entertaining because it was difficult, but the way it was difficult. The U.S. Open does not need a certain identity to be valuable. It can be many different things and many different kinds of tests. Justin Thomas losing his mind and posting a new scoring record last year at Erin Hills was entertaining to watch, and so was Thursday. Both can be the U.S. Open.

This was appealing in the way that watching a boxer catch a big uppercut is fun to watch but it’s probably not something you’d want to do yourself. It cannot be overstated how perfect a day it was to watch golf. There was not a single cloud until late in the day, the temperature rested below 80, and the wind provided a natural AC — if you got a little toasty, just head to some of the holes on higher ground where the breeze was whipping. The wind was having that affect on the high fescue where it looked like uniform waves rolling onto a shore. It was delightful!

7:15 p.m.

The marquee group is in, and your final scores are:

Dustin Johnson: -1
Justin Thomas: +3
Tiger Woods: +8

Johnson is currently tied for first, while Woods is going to have to hustle to make it to the championship rounds this weekend.

6:35 p.m.

Russell Henley’s day is done, and though he finished with a bogey on the 18th hole, his 69 makes him one of only three golfers to return to the clubhouse with a round on the happy side of par. He’s currently part of a four-way tie for first place.

5:45 p.m.

A bogey on the 11th hole and double-bogey on the 13th has Tiger Woods in trouble. The three-time champion is now +6, and could be in danger of missing the cut come Friday night.

5:25 p.m.

It remains Dustin Johnson and Russell Henley at the top, though Johnson’s group mate Justin Thomas could be putting himself in position to make a move.

4:50 p.m.

Poor, poor Graeme McDowell.

4:42 p.m.

Russell Henley’s gonna get in on all this chip-in action. His birdie on the 12 hole brought him into a tie for first with Dustin Johnson.

4:02 p.m.

Jason Dufner’s sixth-hole birdie put him in first place...for about three minutes. That’s when Dustin Johnson spun a possible bogey into gold with a hole out from the eighth hole bunker.

3:30 p.m.

Dustin Johnson’s hot streak came to an end on the sixth hole when his tee shot found knee-high fescue to the left of the fairway. It took a search team of about a dozen people — including Tiger Woods — to find his plugged ball.

After a drop, Johnson took the safe play and punched out to the fairway. He’d bogey the hole — but a Russell Henley double bogey would leave him tied for the lead at -1 early in his opening round.

3:17 p.m.

Dustin Johnson just rolled in a 25-foot birdie putt to move to -2 through five holes. That’s bad news for the rest of the field. Tiger Woods also birdied the fifth, pushing him down to +3 for the day.

3:01 p.m.

Russell Henley is the first man to hit -3 today. That gives him a one-stroke advantage over Brian Gay — and two over Dustin Johnson, who drained a fourth-hole birdie putt to announce his arrival at Shinnecock Hills.

2:40 p.m.

Another bogey has Tiger Woods at +4 through three holes. The rest of his marquee group — Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas — is faring better early on. Johnson is even, while Thomas is just two strokes off the lead at +1.

2:05 p.m.

Oh no, Tiger Woods. A too-long approach set up a par putt from well off the green, and the three-time champion couldn’t find his range as his stroke carried three-quarters of the way up the hill...and then rolled back to a spot five feet from where he’d started.

Those are some unforgiving greens. He’d eventually hole out for triple-bogey, starting his day at +3.

1:47 p.m.

Tiger Woods’ U.S. Open is officially underway. He’s playing in the marquee group alongside Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas.

1:45 p.m.

Rafa Cabrera Bello put his name on top of the leaderboard in dramatic fashion with this outstanding, over-the-trap chip-in.

1:33 p.m.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Phil Mickelson have completed their respective first rounds, and it’s...not good. The trio combined for a +25 on the day. Mickelson was the best of the group at +7, while Spieth limped home at +8. McIlroy’s 80 tied his career-worst score at a major event.

12:59 p.m.

He’s played exactly one hole, but Brian Gay can officially say he’s led the U.S. Open, even if his time at the top is brief.

Three other first-hole birdies — from Ryan Evans, Ted Potter, and amateur (and SEC male golfer of the year) Theo Humphrey — has created a brief six-way logjam at the top of the leaderboard.

12:26 p.m.

Just how nutty is today’s opening round? Well...

12:08 p.m.

Scott Piercy is the first man to walk back to the Shinnecock Hills clubhouse with a red number. He finished his day at -1, tying him for the lead with Ian Poulter. Poulter’s having himself a solid day — even if he isn’t totally happy with the results.

11:52 a.m.

Patrick Reed is only two shots off the lead after absolutely burying a 60-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole. Please ignore the U.S. Open’s terrible pun in the following tweet.

11:27 a.m.

The Jordan Spieth-Rory McIlroy-Phil Mickelson group just finished the par-3 second hole...with three bogeys. That featured trio is now a combined +21 after 11 holes at Shinnecock Hills.

11:21 a.m.

Justin Rose is hanging around the top of the leaderboard, thanks in part to this sand save that kept him at even through 13 holes.

11:05 a.m.

Calum Hill gave the two shots from his fifth-hole eagle right back with a sixth-hole double bogey. Matt Kuchar now stands alone atop the leaderboard at -2.

10:53 a.m.

England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick is making a run at the top spot early in Southhampton. He stuck his approach shot at the par-4 eighth hole within six inches of the cup to move to -1 on the day — just one shot off the lead.

Those leaders include Calum Hill, whose fifth-hole eagle has him in a three-way tie for first.

10:28 a.m.

The most picturesque shot of the day so far:

Scott Piercy found the cup from 81.5 feet out on the par-4 12th hole.

9:59 a.m.

Rory McIlroy’s start — +6 over the first five holes — was endemic of the early struggles at Shinnecock Hills, but his rally may have just begun on the 15th hole. His birdie there was the first for a grouping that also includes Phil Mickelson and Jordan Spieth. Together, that trio is a combined +13 through six holes.

9:41 a.m.

The leader at this early moment is Charley Hoffman, who’s played to 2-under over his first four holes. Hoffman just made birdie at the par-4 13th after sticking an approach shot 12 feet away and draining his putt. Hoffman’s never gotten that close to winning a major, but he’s been competitive in these events before. He finished ninth in last year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills. Hoffman’s one of just six players under par. There are 59 players over par.

9:07 a.m.

The thing to know early: Shinnecock Hills is brutal:

After the first two hours of play Thursday, the course was being mean. Ten players were under par, and 33 were over in the early going.

Some of the ugliest results were coming from guys you’ve never heard of, but not all of them. Jordan Spieth started his day by bogeying the par-4 10th hole and then making triple on the par-3 11th, a 157-yard uphill hole with a tough green area. On that hole, Spieth flew his tee shot into a green-side bunker to the right of the hole, wedged out to beyond the green, came up short with a pitch attempt that rolled back to him, and two-putted for his triple-bogey. Spieth was plus-4 through two holes.

The ugliest single thing that happened in the early-going: someone making a 9 on the brutal, 536-yard par-4 14th hole.

Five hundred thirty-six yards! A par-4! That’s a lot even for the best players in the world, all of whom are in this 156-man field. The world’s No. 155 player is an American named Scott Stallings. He hit his tee shot about 300 yards, but lost it into some of the tall grass just to the right of the fairway. After hacking out to 135 yards from the flagstick, Stallings hit an approach shot that skidded off the back of the green and required him to pitch back up.

Scroll back to the top of this post for the newest updates.