By Mark Lamport-Stokes
SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. Open lived up to
its reputation as the toughest championship of all in the early
going on Thursday with only five players under par in the
opening round.
On a cool hazy day at the Olympic Club, American Kevin Na
was alone at two under after six holes, a stroke in front of
South African Branden Grace and Americans Jason Bohn, Joe
Ogilvie and Davis Love III.
Grace, a three-times winner on the European Tour this year,
had completed six holes and Bohn five while Ogilvie and U.S.
Ryder Cup captain Love had 14 holes to play.
Three-times U.S. Open champion Tiger Woods was among a large
group locked at even par, having parred his first five holes
after teeing off at the par-four ninth.
Seeking his first major title in four years, Woods was
playing in a glamour grouping with fellow Americans Phil
Mickelson and Masters champion Bubba Watson who were both
struggling at two over.
Left-hander Mickelson, runner-up a record five times at the
U.S. Open without yet landing the prestigious trophy, got off to
the worst possible start when he hooked his opening tee shot and
lost his ball.
He did well to bogey the hole after hitting a third shot off
the tee but went on to bogey the next two holes, finding a
greenside bunker with his approach at the 10th and missing a par
putt from four feet at the 11th.
However, Mickelson partially recovered when he birdied the
par-three 13th to get back to two over.
Fellow left-hander Watson bogeyed the ninth and 11th to lie
four strokes off the early pace on a par-70 Lake Course layout
boasting arguably the toughest stretch of holes in major golf
from the first to the sixth.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland was
among the day’s late starters, scheduled to tee off at 1:29 p.m.
(2029 GMT) with world number one Luke Donald and third-ranked
Lee Westwood.
(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in San Francisco; Editing by
Frank Pingue)
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