Looking ahead to the second round of the 2024 U.S. Open - ESPN

PINEHURST, N.C. — Pinehurst No. 2's lightning-fast greens, steep runoffs and tricky native areas showed their teeth in the first round of the 124th U.S. Open on Thursday.

So much so that world's No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler finally looked human in posting a 1-over 71, while many of the world's best players were left scratching their heads after posting even bigger numbers.

With temperatures expected to be even hotter Friday, conditions in the second round might be even more daunting as the greens and fairways firm up even more.

«Yeah, it's really hard,» said England's Tyrrell Hatton, who carded a 2-under 68. «Certainly, like where the pins are, you can hit a great shot. Keeping it on the green 20 feet away is a great shot, which is mad to say when you're hitting, like, a wedge into the green type thing.

»It's just trying to accept that pars are a good score. Even if you do manage to hit the green, like two-putts aren't that very simple. Yeah, it's just a really tough test."

They'll all be chasing Patrick Cantlay, who is looking for his first major championship victory, and Rory McIlroy, who is trying to win his first in nearly 10 years. They set the pace at 5-under 65.

Here's what to look for in the second round of the U.S. Open:

For the first time in his career, Cantlay finds himself on top of a major championship leaderboard after the first round with a score of 5-under on the day. In fact, Cantlay has only been inside the top-10 after the first day of a major twice before: at the 2022 Masters and the 2019 PGA Championship. His best finish was at the latter, where he tied for third place.

After his friend Xander Schauffele won this year's PGA Championship, there's now a case to be made that Cantlay is one of the best