SA's MJ Daffue shares second spot at US Open

Canada's Adam Hadwin birdied five of the last six holes on the front nine to seize a one-stroke lead after Thursday's first round of the US Open.

World number 105 Hadwin, whose best finish in 19 prior major starts was a share of 24th at the 2018 Masters, fired a four-under par 66 at The Country Club.

South Africa's MJ Daffue finised in a shared for second spot after shooting a three-under par 67. He sits one shot adrift alongside Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, Sweden's David Lingmerth, England's Callum Tarren, and American Joel Dahmen.

The next best-placed South African is Shaun Norris, who shot an even-par 70 to share 26th spot. The other South Africans in the field struggled - Branden Grace shot a six-over 76 to share 125th position, Louis Oosthuizen bagged a seven-over 77 for a share of 136th, while Erik van Rooyen posted eight-over 78 to share 144th position.

66 - Adam Hadwin (CAN)

67 - MJ Daffue (RSA), David Lingmerth (SWE), Joel Dahmen (USA), Rory McIlroy (NIR), Callum Tarren (ENG)

68 - Justin Rose (ENG), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Brian Harman (USA), Dustin Johnson (USA), Matthew NeSmith (USA), Aaron Wise (USA), Hayden Buckley (USA)

69 - Jason Kokrak (USA), Gary Woodland (USA), Justin Thomas (USA), Beau Hossler (USA), Patrick Rodgers (USA), Max Homa (USA), Will Zalatoris (USA), Nick Hardy (USA), Collin Morikawa (USA), James Piot (USA), Adam Scott (AUS), Jon Rahm (ESP)

70 - Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Marc Leishman (AUS), Guillermo Pereira (CHI), Shaun Norris (RSA), Viktor Hovland (NOR), Adam Schenk (USA), Webb Simpson (USA), Patrick Reed (USA), Keegan Bradley (USA), Daniel Berger (USA), Scottie Scheffler (USA), Xander Schauffele (USA), Wyndham Clark (USA), Sam Bennett (USA), Travis Vick (USA), Richard Bland (ENG)

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