Gavin Andrews
BBC Sport NI at Shinnecock Hills

Grey skies, a howling gale, McIlroy and McDowell at the top of the leaderboard... Long Island is feeling like home.

Come on Northern Ireland!

It's a stacked field at Shinnecock Hills this week...

Rory McIlroy misses the fairway left at 12 but does brilliantly to muscle his second out of the rough and run his ball up the green, leaving a 25-footer for birdie.

And then he holes it! A fantastic three from the Masters champion after missing the fairway and he moves into the lead on his own.

Tommy Fleetwood matches McIlroy's three after a fine drive and approach to 10 feet, moving back to level par.

Image source, Getty Images

A par start for Scottie Scheffler, who like many left a putt miles short when he had a birdie try from 20 feet. Perhaps the practice green is a bit quicker than the putting surfaces out on the course?

Maybe it's just a US Open mindset that the players can't quite shift?

Mason Howell almost drops a birdie in but will be more than happy with a par start but defending champion JJ Spaun drops a shot on his first hole.

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Are we in the right place? A rolling, open links-like course shrouded in morning fog, being swept with winds and undulating greens with long, sloping run-offs prompting bumpd and runs and even long putts from off the greens.

Is this the US Open or are we playing for the Claret Jug? As this could easily be a day on the links back in the UK couln't it? It'll be a links-like test that's for sure, with someone with a good wind game coming out on top.

The camera pans to Tyrrell Hatton who is out in the wilderness at 12, his third.

Spectators have trampled down the undergrowth in that area though and he can take aim at the flag. A fine rescue shot to leave 19 feet for birdie.

He'll take two putts from there to make par.

Cameron Young levels up his scorecard with a nice birdie on the third hole - where Chris Gotterup goes the other way with a bogey to slip over par.

It's all about the response around here though, as bogeys will happen, they're all over the place, it's how you deal with them that will count this week.

A momentum-killer for early pacesetter Graeme McDowell, who drops a shot at the par-four 13th and slips out of a share for the lead.

McDowell missed the fairway left and was forced to hack out. Precision is key around here.

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Rory McIlroy opens his account!

His shot into the par-three 11th nestles 12 feet long and he rolls in the birdie putt to move into the red early doors.

Tommy Fleetwood can't quite bounce back from his opening bogey. Par threes for the Englishman and Ludvig Aberg.

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England's Alex Fitzpatrick will be a happy man after last night's 4-2 win for the men's football team against Croatia in their opening World Cup match.

The Englishman went viral earlier this week when he appeared to be practicing with a VR headset to help ensure he doesn't nudge any close-range putts past the hole and well off the dance floor.

Or maybe he was just watching a re-run of 1966 and all that.

Scottie Scheffler tees off alongside defending champion JJ Spaun - who is still going under the radar a bit despite defending the title this week.

Joining them is 18-year-old Mason Howell, the third youngest ever winner of the US Amateur last year, who also played in the US Open last year. Having your debut at Oakmont then second time at Shinnecock really is a baptism of fire.

So is playing in this star-studded group in these conditions. No pressure on the teenager then.

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Shinnecock Hills is renowned for its greens, which have huge slopes on the putting surfaces but also some rather massive false fronts and run-offs at the back - so miss in the wrong spot and you're in big trouble.

The big problem comes when they get too dry and too fast though, as happened in both 2004 and 2018, when they became borderline unplayable.

This course dries out in an instant and with the winds predicted this week the greens could quickly become a problem again - so the plan is to water them between the early and late waves of tee times over the first two rounds to ensure that everyone gets a air crack at them.

It'll also hopefully ensure the grass on the greens doesn't die out, which should then leave them in better condition for the weekend.

Image source, Getty Images

The wind has indeed started to hum and it forces Rory McIlroy to back off his 173-yard approach into the 10th, which has already yielded 11 bogeys today.

When he steps back up, he draws one into the heart of the green and mops up from there for an opening par.

Tommy Fleetwood draws a thick lie in the rough, misses the green long and left with his second and can't get up and down, so that's an opening bogey.

Ludvig Aberg only had 99 yards in for his second from the fairway but settles for par after knocking it to 30 feet.

Super tee shot from Sam Burns into the par-three 11th as he sets up six feet for birdie. In it goes.

Tyrrell Hatton is inches away from draining a 22-footer but has to settle for par.

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Watch out for Jackson Koivun this week, who is playing for the final time as an amateur after a stellar college career that statistically was as good as anything we've ever seen.

He won two National Championships in three years with Auburn and is the only player to win all three of college golf's top awards on multiple occasions. He also won six times this season alone!

Data Golf has him as the highest rated amateur on their records and the 21-year-old has already secured a PGA Tour card for the next couple of years - so he's decided to turn pro after the US Open.

Image source, Getty Images

He's given up his amateur spot in the Open Championship in order to go pro now, but he's been so good in college that you suspect he will soon be qualifying for the majors on a regular basis.

Nothing is guaranteed in golf, but the hype could just be real with this young man. So remember the name.

Cruel!

After another lovely approach, Graeme McDowell has a good look for a third straight birdie at 12, but his putt lips out on the right!

His ball was racing towards the hole. Sign of a confident player.

Image source, Getty Images

The wind is getting up!

Good par save from 10 feet for Brooks Koepka on the second - the putter has been the only thing letting him down all season, but that looks to be well on the way to getting hot again.

He may be dressed as a deckchair but he's no slouch on the greens today.

Cameron Young can't save his par though so drops a shot early. It won't be the last.