Patrick Cantlay finds form with an opening round 65 at the US Open 

LIV Golf’s Sergio Garcia, who reached his 25th consecutive U.S. Open as an alternate this time, led a contingent of five morning finishers by shoot 1-under 69 – a bogey-free effort with a lone birdie at No. 5.

EARLY LEADER: Patrick Cantlay fired the closest thing to a flawless round at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday morning, yielding only one bogey in a 5-under 65 to stake an early one-shot lead over U.S. Open rookie Ludvig Åberg in the 124th U.S. Open. Pic: AP Photo/Seth Wenig

By his standards, Patrick Cantlay has been kind of a mess this season. Aside from his solid third at Harbour Town and his blown final-round lead at Riviera to finish fourth, he’s posted no other top-10 finishes. He was a non-factor in the Masters, PGA and Players Championship and missed the cut last week at the Memorial.

So naturally it was Cantlay who fired the closest thing to a flawless round at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday morning, yielding only one bogey in a 5-under 65 to stake an early one-shot lead over U.S. Open rookie Ludvig Åberg in the 124th U.S. Open.