Scottie Scheffler didn’t win Thursday at the U.S. Open, but he didn’t lose the tournament either. At Shinnecock Hills, that counts for something.

The world No. 1 opened with a 2-over 72 in the first round, surviving a brutal mix of fog, wind, thick rough, slow greens and awkward angles at a course that looked ready to bite from the opening tee shot. Scheffler walked off four shots behind early leader Sam Stevens, who posted a 2-under 68, but the bigger story was how hard Shinnecock made even the best player in golf work just to stay upright.

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This wasn’t the clean, clinical version of Scheffler that has spent the last few seasons making major championship golf look almost unfair. This was grind golf. This was hang-on golf. This was the kind of U.S. Open round where par felt like a minor miracle and bogey didn’t always feel like failure.

Scheffler, chasing the U.S. Open title he still needs to complete the career Grand Slam, made four birdies but also had plenty of scar tissue on the card. His front nine included a double bogey at No. 8 after trouble off the tee, a bunker recovery and a three-putt. He turned in 3-over 38 before finding enough rhythm on the back nine to shoot 34 coming home.

That late recovery mattered. Scheffler saved par at No. 9 from six feet, then added three birdies after the turn. By the time he rolled in a closing sand save at No. 18, his 72 looked less like a disappointment and more like damage control.

“If you told me when I was staring at my par putt on 9 that I would post 2-over today, I would definitely have taken it,” Scheffler said.

That line summed up the day. Scheffler wasn’t pretending it was pretty. He just knew it could’ve been much worse.

The wildest example came at the par-5 16th, which played nothing like a normal modern par 5. Into heavy wind and uphill, the hole punished aggression and made positioning feel like survival. Scheffler found himself in a bunker well short of the green and had to jump just to see the flag. He eventually made bogey on a hole that was playing among the toughest on the course.

That’s Shinnecock. One minute, a player thinks he’s hanging around. Next, he’s trying to locate a flag from a sand pit.

Scheffler admitted the margin for error was almost nonexistent, saying a merely “good” shot could still leave a player in a bad place. At a U.S. Open, that’s usually the point. At Shinnecock, it felt especially personal.

While Scheffler was fighting to stay in the tournament, Ludvig Åberg quietly placed himself in a much better position. Åberg opened with a 1-under 69, joining Rory McIlroy, Brian Harman, Max Greyserman and Ben James among the early players under par or right near the top of the board.

For Åberg, it was the kind of round that fits his rising profile perfectly. No panic. No drama. Just another reminder that his game travels, even when conditions get nasty. On a day when Shinnecock made plenty of established stars look uncomfortable, Åberg kept himself in the early hunt with a score that could look even better by the end of the round.

Then there was Jason Day, whose U.S. Open ended early and painfully.

Day withdrew during his opening round because of a back injury after reaching 7-over through 10 holes. He had made six straight bogeys to close his first nine and was seen being taken off the course after hitting into a greenside bunker on the par-3 second hole.

It was a rough scene for a former world No. 1 who has battled back problems throughout his career. Day entered Shinnecock looking to turn around a recent stretch that included five straight starts without a top-30 finish. Instead, his week ended before he could even complete 18 holes.

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That contrast defined Thursday: Scheffler survived, Åberg surged into position, and Day was forced out.

The U.S. Open rarely offers comfort, and Shinnecock Hills offered even less. The greens were softer and slower than expected because of the wind forecast, but that didn’t make the course easy. Sustained winds near 25 mph, thick rough and shifting conditions turned the first round into a mental test as much as a ball-striking exam.

Scheffler knows he’s still alive. Four shots back at a U.S. Open is nothing, especially on a course where trouble is waiting on every hole. But if he’s going to chase down another major and complete the Grand Slam, he’ll need more than patience. He’ll need answers.

After Thursday, even Scottie Scheffler was still looking for them.