"I don’t think until they get to 8,000 or 8,100 yards or something that there’s going to be a long course.”

Sean Martin talked to players after day one at the gigantic Erin Hills and the scale failed to intimidate. At least, not 68-shooter Justin Thomas.

“I feel like there’s no such thing as a long golf course anymore,” the incoming Alabama freshman said.

It was an honest assessment of where the game is today. Erin Hills is the longest course in USGA history, but its yardage didn’t deter a slew of low scores during Monday’s first round of stroke play. Firm fairways allowed players to hit their share of short- and mid-irons into receptive greens, a combination that always leads to birdies. A lack of wind Monday also helped players.

And then there was this from the recent high school grad:

“They always say this is the longest course ever, and you get there and you’re hitting 7-irons,” Thomas said. “I think out here the par-5s make up a lot of the yardage. They’re long, but they’re still a scoring holes because you’re hitting a wedge into the green. I don’t think until they get to 8,000 or 8,100 yards or something that there’s going to be a long course.”

Martin goes on to talk to other players with similar reactions.