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Matthew Wolff is playing in his first career U.S. Open, but you’d never know it by looking at his scorecard.
Wolff began moving day four shots back of the lead held by Patrick Reed. He erased the deficit in a mere seven holes, firing lasers at each and every pin, seemingly blind to the dangers that penalize every less-than-perfect shot.
The front nine at Winged Foot is among the most difficult stretches in golf, especially during a U.S. Open. Wolff made it look like a local muni with his play on Saturday afternoon. The 21-year-old got off to a quick start, birdieing the 1st hole, and his card only got better from there. He followed his opening birdie with pars at the 2nd and 3rd. Then, he got hot.
Wolff birdied the difficult 4th and tacked on two more at the 6th and 7th. He had an excellent look at another birdie on the 8th, but his putt slid past the hole, leaving an easy par. With a stress-free two-putt birdie on the par-5 9th, Wolff turned to the back nine with a blistering 30 on the opening nine. The score matched Louis Oosthuizen for the low front-nine score of the week and gave him the solo lead.
“Matthew Wolff is feeling it right now!” remarked NBC analyst Paul Azinger.
Not a bad start for a kid who has only been able to legally drink for a little more than five months. If he keeps it up on the back nine, we could be witnessing a truly special round.