Rickie Fowler made Erin Hills and the U.S. Open Championship look easy this morning as he took the first round lead.

Coming out firing, Fowler was hot early making three birdies in his opening five holes before going onto finish bogey free on 7-under 65.

“You don’t get many rounds at the U.S. Open that are stress-free. Just did a good job, knew I needed to drive it well, and from there just able to manage hitting and continuing to swing well and hitting good shots and rolling a couple in,” said Fowler.

“So, a simple day when you look back on it, we kind of pieced our way around the golf course.

“It’s a lot easier said than done. Still missed some putts that I had opportunities out there, but it’s just nice to go out and actually execute the game plan and not have to think about what if that one went in or anything like that.

“You’re going to miss putts. You’re not going to make everything. So definitely happy with the start.”

Free flowing birdies are not a regular occurrence at U.S. Open Championships but Fowler was quick to praise the USGA on their course set-up.

“I think they did a good job with the set-up. The USGA, Mike Davis, I think they were aware that depending on what the wind is going to do and what the wind could change to certain tee boxes could make them look bad if it was set up improperly,” added Fowler.

“But they did a great job, and I think they’re going to do a good job the rest of the week.”

With his exceptional opening round Fowler has quieted some critics who suggest, after Sergio Garcia’s Master victory, he is now the best player never to have won a Major.

“I take it as a compliment. There are a lot of really good players out here that haven’t won a Major,” added Fowler.

“So it would be nice to get rid of that at some point. I’m not saying that this is the week or isn’t the week.

“But I like the way this golf course suits me, and we’re off to a good start. There’s definitely a lot of golf to be played.

With a two shot lead, Fowler can now relax ahead of the second round as the Australian contingent are now on course in the afternoon field of the first round.

“The first thing is getting off to a good start Thursday, keeping that rolling and getting ourselves in contention Sunday. There’s a lot of golf to be played. But, yeah, I’m ready to be out there,” added Fowler.

“Hopefully I don’t have to tighten up a whole lot, which will be good. I won’t start thinking about stuff until I get on the table tomorrow which will be roughly an hour to 45 minutes before my round. I’ll start working on some stuff. I’ll go through normal warm-up which is typically an hour before.”