Golfers Tee Off to Kick Off US Open at Full Capacity

The first golfers teed off Thursday morning, marking the official start of the 122nd U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts.

An amateur from Wellesley, 20-year-old Michael Thorbjornsen, lead the way from the tee box at 6:45 a.m.

[{"selector":"#anim-84ca4792-a7bc-4bab-b22c-32761d62a184","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e61aa39b-e4c4-4182-a72f-76fafa0d06b9","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -120.00777%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-74a8dcc9-5dce-45f4-9dcb-c173a20fcc5e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f49b17fb-46a3-4335-8c02-167cffff48ce","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 259.32371%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Last year’s U.S. Open winner, Jon Rahm, was scheduled to start at 7:18 a.m., followed by Worcester native Scott Stallings at 7:29 and 2011 U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy at 7:40 a.m. Vermont’s Keegan Bradley started at 8:02 a.m.

[{"selector":"#anim-45e7ceac-b523-4861-b156-2e2c5bb8b4d0","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-63da187f-4710-41e5-9a10-ae7d6252c49d","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 129.04332%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-671ba15f-e50a-4ed3-b183-854be705860c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-0270f46d-5109-4b6d-9a8c-b9805976fccc","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -99.7803%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

"I’m excited, you know, I love just coming back here. I love going into the local stores and hearing the chatter and the accents and talking about the Celtics," professional golfer Keegan Bradley said.

[{"selector":"#anim-3a5877d3-2f8a-4f80-9672-7b17afe6ee5f","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-72c8bc06-2bd4-42e5-a648-a1f167cf3116","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 167.11112%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d10c6bcf-8d28-48f5-b13f-8b3c04040272","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2e1c2179-e452-4b2f-9ade-3958ea39672f","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -96.25285%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Thursday marks the start of the first of four rounds. Thousands of fans have been coming to The Country Club all week as the U.S. Open returns to the historic venue for the first time since 1988.

[{"selector":"#anim-149567f7-ca68-4960-9079-7624e53f1e26","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-bffcc74d-1a29-4ff0-9d4e-9d3b56c1c4c8","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 167.11112%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-85392423-737d-4336-8350-87388c882830","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-13121703-3223-469e-b3a9-9ad4228e0c60","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -99.78091%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The course has only hosted the championship three other times, but has been the site of several other major golf events.

[{"selector":"#anim-e9dc32ac-74b2-449c-bff7-641ccfb9b474","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5db142ed-d2ce-4292-b42e-af9cf605cba5","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 197.35820%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e66f05be-9290-44e9-a382-c6109e5765e3","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-dd9042e5-4126-47ac-9f2a-4a04d6a6499e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -96.63743%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

There's added excitement around the US Open this year, which is back at full capacity or the first time since 2019.

[{"selector":"#anim-96da8ea9-cbc5-4b71-add1-586aab20487e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-eca52f0f-deb0-4b36-a8bc-d4a6fce2e688","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 245.41070%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c45f8b54-ebda-4344-b398-97431ec6d845","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2b82bcc5-6315-4572-9b24-b31f8c03e562","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -96.07078%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Lopuszynski estimates that 11 hats will be sold per minute from the 24,000 square foot merchandise tent.

[{"selector":"#anim-832dd0d0-2003-4eca-8a3b-aea74a342711","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cabd5234-2751-4165-aab9-ea83edd3d06b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 197.35820%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ec5129a0-2ce2-41cc-943d-8d1c41d4e749","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f7d6b9ea-9ced-4f60-a8fa-bdf9f24e2252","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -95.7265%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Even with 49 cash registers, organizers may still have to close the doors if it gets too crowded inside.

[{"selector":"#anim-ff079e8b-db0a-4a4e-b186-209bbf1ea82c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-ac25e8f0-3c60-43bf-9516-82e525e1cb5a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 245.41070%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-cdb5a166-b35a-48b0-bf1d-4f68f177ad22","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f0bc1cd5-0f9d-4b8a-9612-38f18093d892","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, -99.80006%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]