Christiaan Bezuidenhout led the South African charge in the opening round of the US Open at Pinehurst on Thursday.

Bezuidenhout shot a two-over round of 72 to sit tied for 50th on a tricky course characterised by its dome-shaped greens, sandy waste areas and wiregrass. He is seven shots behind co-leaders Rory McIlroy and Patrick Cantlay, who both shot impressive rounds of five-under 65.

LEADERBOARD | 2024 US Open

Bezuidenhout’s countryman, Casey Jarvis, shot three-over 73 to sit tied for 65th, while Dean Burmester is a shot behind after carding a four-over 74 to lie tied for 86th.

Erik van Rooyen will find it hard to make the weekend cut after shooting a six-over 76 which left him tied for 120th position.

Elsewhere, 15-time major winner Tiger Woods struggled to a four-over 74 (tied for 86th). Woods had five bogeys in a seven-hole stretch starting at the 16th after teeing off on the back nine.

Scores after Thursday’s first round of the 124th US Open at par-70 Pinehurst (a- denotes amateur):

65 – Patrick Cantlay (USA), Rory McIlroy (NIR)

66 – Ludvig Aberg (SWE)

67 – Matthieu Pavon (FRA), Bryson DeChambeau (USA)

68 – Tony Finau (USA), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG), Akshay Bhatia (USA)

69 – Kim Seong-hyeon (KOR), Corey Conners (CAN), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Sam Bennett (USA), Aaron Rai (ENG), Jackson Suber (USA), Thomas Detry (BEL)

70 – Logan McAllister (USA), Stephan Jaeger (GER), Emiliano Grillo (ARG), Collin Morikawa (USA), Brooks Koepka (USA), Russell Henley (USA), Robert Rock (ENG), a-Neal Shipley (USA), Isaiah Salinda (USA), Davis Thompson (USA), Zac Blair (USA), Harris English (USA), Robert Macintyre (SCO), Xander Schauffele (USA), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Sepp Straka (AUT), Martin Kaymer (GER), Adam Scott (AUS)

71 – Seamus Power (IRL), Max Greyserman (USA), Tim Widing (SWE), Cameron Smith (AUS), Rickie Fowler (USA), Kim Si-woo (KOR), Willie Mack III (USA), Jason Day (AUS), Tom Kim (KOR), Scottie Scheffler (USA), Brian Harman (USA), Max Homa (USA), Chris Kirk (USA), Taylor Pendrith (CAN), Frankie Capan III (USA), Taisei Shimizu (JPN)

72 – Frederik Kjettrup (DEN), Justin Lower (USA), Matt Kuchar (USA), Nicolai Hojgaard (DEN), Gary Woodland (USA), Nico Echavarria (COL), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Mac Meissner (USA), Austin Eckroat (USA), a-Bryan Kim (USA), Brandon Robinson Thompson (ENG), Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA), Mackenzie Hughes (CAN), Hideki Matsuyama (JPN), Jordan Spieth (USA)

73 – Carter Jenkins (USA), a-Omar Morales (MEX), Casey Jarvis (RSA), Sam Burns (USA), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Min Woo Lee (AUS), Justin Rose (ENG), Daniel Berger (USA), Ryan Fox (NZL), Adam Svensson (CAN), Kurt Kitayama (USA), Nick Dunlap (USA), Wyndham Clark (USA), JT Poston (USA), a-Gordon Sargent (USA), Cameron Young (USA), Eric Cole (USA), Billy Horschel (USA), Alex Noren (SWE), Billy Campbell (USA)

74 – Tom McKibbin (NIR), Dean Burmester (RSA), Lucas Glover (USA), Tiger Woods (USA), Adam Hadwin (CAN), Dustin Johnson (USA), Im Sung-jae (KOR), An Byeong-hun (KOR), Jim Herman (USA), Jason Scrivener (AUS), Mark Hubbard (USA), Beau Hossler (USA), Nick Taylor (CAN), Peter Malnati (USA), Shane Lowry (IRL), Keegan Bradley (USA), Brendon Todd (USA), Brandon Wu (USA), Kang Sung (KOR)

75 – Will Zalatoris (USA), Webb Simpson (USA), a-Ashton McCulloch (CAN), a-Wells Williams (USA), Eugenio Chacarra (ESP), Chesson Hadley (USA), Victor Perez (FRA), Tom Hoge (USA), Jake Knapp (USA), Denny McCarthy (USA), a-Ben James (USA), Andrew Svoboda (USA), a-Gunnar Broin (USA), a-Hiroshi Tai (SGP), John Chin (USA)

76 – Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), David Puig (ESP), Takumi Kanaya (JPN), Adrian Meronk (POL), a-Brendan Valdes (USA), Greyson Sigg (USA), Taylor Moore (USA), Erik van Rooyen (RSA), a-Jackson Buchanan (USA), a-Luke Clanton (USA), Harry Higgs (USA), Joey Vrzich (USA)

77 – Michael McGowan (USA), Rico Hoey (PHI), Chris Petefish (USA), a-Parker Bell (USA), Justin Thomas (USA), Sahith Theegala (USA), Cam Davis (AUS), Grant Forrest (SCO), Ben Kohles (USA), Riki Kawamoto (JPN)

78 – Rikuya Hoshino (JPN), Richard Mansell (ENG), a-Santiago de la Fuente (MEX), Viktor Hovland (NOR)

79 – Matteo Mannassero (ITA), Phil Mickelson (USA), a-Stewart Hagestad (USA), Carson Schaake (USA), a-Colin Prater (USA), Adam Schenk (USA), Otto Black (USA)

80 – Charlie Reiter (USA), Maxwell Moldovan (USA)

81 – Chris Naegel (USA)

84 – Sam Bairstow (ENG)