US Open: Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry among the late starters at ...

Matthieu Pavon -3 (67)

Tony Finau -2 (68)
Rory McIlroy -2 (7)

Selected others:

Shane Lowry +1 (5)

Scottie Scheffler +1 (7)
Seamus Power +1 (71)
Tom McKibbin +4 (74)

Rory pulls it on eight.

He took out the driver but it scuttles into the sand dunes down the left. It doesn't look pretty down there and it's going to be a battle to get out of here with the bogey-free card in tact.

Lowry misses the 15 footer for birdie as he remains on +1 for his round.

Scheffler has arrived!

Scottie Scheffler holes the fifteen footer for birdie to get back to +1. His ball-striking returned to its ominous best on that hole, and it could easily be a sign of things to come after an unusually sloppy start. 

Rory raced his birdie putt three foot past but knocked in the par to stay on track.

Shane Lowry has a fifteen footer for birdie on the Par Five fifth.

Rory on the dancefloor

McIlroy plays a precise approach shot to the difficult Par Four seventh. It lands softly from 160 yards, leaving him with a 20 footer for birdie. Scottie Scheffler has out-done him though, darting one into ten feet as he shows signs of a return to form.

The headline tells you just about all you need to know.

“If there is a farce, it will almost certainly unfold not in the wire-grass from the sandhills that flank the fairways, but on the turtle-back greens with their sadistic runoffs. There is one area behind the 14th green that Shay Knight, Viktor Hovland’s caddie, has named f***edville.”

Rory taps in for par on six.

He takes out an iron on the Par Four seventh and sends it down the right hand side of the fairway.

"Rory couldn't go down there and place it in a better position," says Wayne Riley on Sky Sports. 

Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler has finally found a fairway...so while it's been a rocky start don't rule out the inevitable birdie run.

Scottie Scheffler makes a bogey on six as his rocky start continues. His irons have been unusually inaccurate and the putter didn't obey him there. It gives a glimmer of hope to the rest of the field.

What a touch from Rory.

He picks the spot and leaves the chip stone dead. Should hole the par putt. His game looks to be in a great place so far.

Shane Lowry holed out from six feet on four to save his par, remaining on +1.

Just a bit saucy from Rory on the Par Three Sixth

It's playing as the toughest hole on the course with its saurcer-like green and while Rory's approach looked decent, it didn't check and ran out the back. It won't be the easiest of up and downs to save par.

Shane Lowry is also slightly out of position on four, where he's found a green-side bunker with his approach.

Rory you beauty!

We thought a par was a best-case scenario, but McIlroy sensationally chips in for birdie. 

It's a delightful start for Rory, bringing him to -2 so far. Let the hype begin!

Rory lays up with his second but it doesn't go as planned. It goes left into the sand, 90 yards out for his third.  He leaves that just shy of the green, and will be hoping to get up and down for par.

Shane Lowry didn't give his birdie effort enough juice on three, and he walks away with par.

Lowry sets up outside birdie chance on three

He's set himself up for a fourteen footer for birdie after a decent wedge shot in.

Rory finds the gorse for the first time

Rory pushes his drive down the Par Five fifth but seems to have gotten away with it, with the ball sitting up somewhere in the middle of the famous marram grass. 

Both of his playing partners are also heading for the sand dunes.

RORY!

After some narrow misses on the first three holes, Rory finally gets his birdie after dropping his putt from five feet on four.

His approach was perfect, and it's a brilliant start for him with his ball-striking on the money so far.

It's not so good for Shane Lowry who drops a shot on the second.

Oh yes Rory!

He nails his approach to the Par Four fourth and will have a five footer for birdie. There's a pep in his step as he bounds up the fairway towards the green. He'll be hoping to make his first birdie of the day.

McIlroy takes out the driver for the first time today...

And hits the perfect tee-shot. His ball-striking has been accurate so far in a very solid start to his tournament. His playing partner Scottie Scheffler has struggled in the early stages, firing a wayward tee-shot for the third hole in a row.

The loudest roar of the day came earlier when Tiger Woods birdied the 10th (his first) to to take the early lead. He ended up dropping back down the field with a +4 round of 74.

Third par in a row for Rory.

He misses that birdie chance to the right but takes the par. Scottie Scheffler paid the price for a poor tee-shot as he misses a thirteen footer for par to drop his first shot of the day.

Shane Lowry has also taps in for par on the first as he gets his round off to a solid start.

Solid approach from Rory.

He leaves himself with a fifteen footer for birdie on three. Xander Schauffele is just behind him while Scottie Scheffler has found a green-side bunker.

Meanwhile, a few holes back, Shane Lowy has a 27 footer for birdie on one.

McIlroy's irons are on the money so far.

He sends a 240 yarder down the heart of the fairway of Par Four third. Meanwhile, Scottie Scheffler pulls his tee-shot into the sand making it two wayward tee-shots in a row for him.