Devlin crashes to 84 at Torrey Pines

Ulsterman Chris Devlin opened with a quadruple bogey eight en route to a nightmare 84 in the US Open at Torrey Pines.

Making his Major championship debut after coming through the qualifiers, the Ballymena native snap hooked his tee shot out of bounds at the 414-yard 10th for a horrific start to a 13 over par round

Playing three off the tee, the Alabama-based Irishman pushed his next effort into deep rough and hacked back to the fairway.

But he then three putted from 25 feet for his eight and while he birdied the par-five 13th (his fourth) he racked up six bogeys and two double bogeys to finish the day 16 shots behind clubhouse leader Justin Hicks.

It was a tragic way to start for the 33-year-old journeyman, who moved to US after a successful college career ten years ago.

Now battling on the third division Hooters Tour, he had to undergo open heart surgery nearly two and a half years ago for a glandular problem that threatened to end his career.