Mid-Ams struggle in opening round of U.S. Open

ERIN, Wisconsin (June 15, 2017) -- The Mid-Ams have nothing to be embarrassed about, but today at Erin Hills they didn't play to their potential.

Both are smiling, and taking in the sights and sounds of the "National Open" (as Ben Hogan used to call it). But they will need to go out strong and post some red numbers tomorrow if they hope to play the weekend.

Hagestad birdied the second hole to briefly see red numbers next to his name, but after making bogey on the par-4 fourth, he recorded his only double-bogey on No. 6, the 253-yard par-3 that played the hardest on Thursday. It's one of the longest in U.S. Open history -- par 3s that is -- and the Newport Beach, Calif. native took four to get down from the front of the green.

He was 92', 6" after a 220-yard tee shot, in case you're wondering.

Hagestad (the 2016 U.S. Mid-Am champ) will try to improve on the 64% of the fairways and 44% of the greens he hit today when he tees it up Friday.

Scott Harvey, of North Carolina, is having a great year. After winning the Coleman Invitational this Spring, he qualified for the Open at Canoe Brook in New Jersey.

Mid-Ams @s_hagestad (+5) and @ScottHarvey78 (+6) react to Thurs. #USOpen setup. Stewart going logo free on the shirt today! #AmateurGolf pic.twitter.com/5bLMsLAd3e

— AmateurGolf.com (@amateurgolfcom) June 15, 2017

Today wasn't his best. Like Hagestad he had a double-bogey on one of the hardest holes -- the monstrous 526-yard 17th, which played second-hardest today -- and he hit exactly the same number of fairways and greens (9 and 8). The only difference in their rounds was that Harvey made one more bogey.

No single round of 77 or 78 is going to bring these Mid-Am stalwarts down, and we expect something better from the likely 2017 Walker Cup teammates when they tackle Erin Hills on Friday.