2017 U.S. Open: Round One Reads, Day Two Links

It was a splendid first day at Erin Hills unless you were a blimp pilot, hydrated at the 12th hole or a member of the world top six.

Steve DiMeglio's USA Today game story focuses on the obvious underlying question: Rickie Fowler's brilliant 65 to kick off three more days of "will he finally win one" talk.

Jesse Garza of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports on those pesky government inspectors daring to look out for the masses by catching bacterial appearance at a USGA "hydration station."

The Washington Ozaukee Health Department on Thursday identified the bacteria in a drinking water sample collected from the hydration station connected to a well near the 12th hole, according to a news release from the department.

Gary D'Amato of the Journal Sentinel on the incredible range of scores and encounters with Erin Hills, wonders if a USGA crackdown will come after the U.S. Open record fell for number of under-par rounds in a round one.

Kevin Na experienced no karma issues for his anti-fescue Instagram post, en route to an afternoon 68, reports Golfweek's Kevin Casey.

In the irony special of the day, some of the players who grumbled about the last-minute rough trimming spent way too much time in it, including Rory McIlroy. Jeff Babineau on the elite player fescue pile-up as 44 players broke par, including 5 amateurs.

Michael Collins of ESPN.com talks to an anonymous caddie about the setup and what they expect Friday, with some fun insights about things the USGA does differently than most tournaments.

Paul Casey posted his best round in a major, opening with 66 after picking up a few tips from the morning telecast. Rex Hoggard reports for GolfChannel.com.

Joey Flintz at USOpen.com with the best quotes from day one.

The USOpen.com Photo Gallery from day one features some beautiful work by some of the worl's best images

Tyler Light's first day in the U.S. Open was pretty dreamy for a sectional qualifier who wasn't long ago working the UPS distribution night shift and sorting sawmill logs to support his golf habit.

Beth Ann Nichols with his story for Golfweek.com.

Off to the side of the par-4 fifth hole Thursday, a portion of Light’s gallery gathered in front of a scoreboard to commemorate his hot start. Light had actually fallen to 3 under at that point, but was in fine company on that leaderboard.

“There’s a sentence I’ve never said before,” Tim said. “Westwood, Fowler, Light … it’s crazy.”

Dad has teared up twice so far.

Golf.com's Michael Bamberger on the impressive opening 71 from Dru Love with dad Davis on the bag.

Bill Glauber , James B. Nelson and Maddie Koss report on the blimp crash that gained much early morning attention, with an update on the pilot's condition.

Fox aired the most incredible footage of all. For The Win's Luke-Kerr Dineen with the video.

The company Tweeted earlier in the day asking for fans to send in photos of their blimp in action. As you might imagine, the responses were, uh, robust.

If you are lucky enough to be at the US Open today share your blimp sighting pics! @penfed #PenFedBlimp #USOpen #USOpen2017 #ErinHills #Golf pic.twitter.com/trFyddODWD
— AirSign (@AirSign) June 15, 2017

The star pairing of Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson struggled on the greens. Jeff Babineau with a Golfweek report from inside the ropes.

Dustin Johnson said this about Erin Hills after the round:

Q. Do you think they've got a good U.S. Open setup here for now and in the future?

DUSTIN JOHNSON: We'll have to see. Obviously it would be interesting if it played really firm and fast. Right now it's really soft. The greens are soft, so you can get to the green with any club. That's why you're seeing some big scores, because the greens are so receptive. I think if it got really firm it would definitely play difficult.

Golf.com's Jeff Ritter went up to Holy Hill and describes both the experience and shares images of the beautiful facility that is seen from Erin Hills' 18th.