Rickie Fowler, Xander Schauffele each shoot 62 to set U.S. Open record - ESPN

Before Thursday, only one round of 62 had ever been recorded in a major championship, and never at the U.S. Open.

Just halfway through the first round of the 123rd U.S. Open, two 62s were already on the board.

Rickie Fowler rang up 10 birdies en route to the first 62 in U.S. Open history Thursday, and Xander Schauffele finished about 20 minutes later with a bogey-free 62 to match him.

Fowler and Schauffele went 8-under par at the par-70 Los Angeles Country Club, which is hosting a major for the first time. They were five clear of the field, with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau among a group at 3 under.

South African Branden Grace was previously the only player to card a 62 at a major, accomplished in the third round of the 2017 Open Championship.

Six players had shot a round of 63 in the U.S. Open's 123-year history: Johnny Miller, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Weiskopf, Vijay Singh of Fiji, Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood of England.

Both players are California natives in search of the first major titles of their careers.

Fowler made 10 of 13 fairways and 15 of 18 greens in regulation. Most important, he led the field with 4.73 strokes gained putting.

«I knew it was close. I wasn't sure of the exact number,» Fowler said of the record on the TV broadcast. «I was really just trying to keep moving forward. Made a lot of good swings. Been a while since I've made some midrange putts, so it was nice to make a lot of those.»

Fowler teed off on No. 10 in the morning wave and played his first nine in 3-under — five birdies, two bogeys. His birdie putt of nearly 16 feet at the 18th hole launched a string of four straight birdies.

At the par-5 first, Fowler's third shot out of a greenside bunker stopped 5 feet from the