Golf fans were promised carnage at this year’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, and through the first wave of tee times Thursday, the course delivered.

While a few players were able to get out and shoot low, of the 78 players that teed off in the morning wave, just eight players were under par by noon ET.

Shane Lowry was one of the players gritting his teeth and grinding through his round at Oakmont, working on a six-over through his first 11 holes, with two bogeys, two doubles and not a birdie in sight on his scorecard.

But on the par-4 3rd hole—the 12th of Lowry’s round as he started on the back nine—Lowry bounced back with one swing from the fairway, holing out for an unlikely eagle. Per the tournament’s social media account, it’s the first eagle ever hit on Oakmont No. 3 during a U.S. Open round.

Golf is a funny game. Right now, the best players in the world are being put through hell on a course that refuses to give an inch, but one good swing can erase an hour’s worth of misery pretty easy.

That said, those strokes can leave as easily as they came. Lowry went on to bogey the par-5 4th on his very next hole.

More U.S. Open on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shane Lowry Made U.S. Open History With One Incredible Shot at Oakmont.

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