"I was left stunned, shocked, didn't know how to reply, didn't know what to do. I kept it to myself all this time and now I'm speaking out about it. After that incident I felt like I was kept sort of isolated from the coach; felt I couldn't really speak out in team meetings and when I heard about Azeem's story it sort of prompted me to speak out as well." The first two rounds were standard US Open fare. Decent scoring in the first round, with Justin Thomas leading after a 65 with DeChambeau off to a solid start on one under, one of 21 players to break the par of 70. On day two, only three shot in the 60s. Nevertheless, Sneyd senses plenty to be positive about at Salford as they return to pre-season training under Rowley's watch. The manner of his six-shot victory was a bitter pill to swallow for many, coming a little over six months after the R&A and the USGA had released the findings of their Distance Insight Project, in which they practically admitted that the ongoing increase in distance presented a credible threat to golf as we know it.