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The 2012 US Open – Round 1 Recap

Published

12 years ago

June 15, 2012

It wasn’t the opening shot that Phil Mickelson wanted at Olympic Club on Thursday. The ball sliced left, went into a thick tree, and it never came down. After Phil took the provisional shot “walk-of-shame” back to the tee box he tried to regroup and ended up bogeying the hole. It’s safe to say that on that hole, Mickelson lost his ball…and his game.

Within his group of champions, Bubba Watson and Tiger Woods did not seem at all to follow each others lead. Bubba missed greens, puts, and fairways and finished +8 (78). The “proud to wear pink” Masters Champion looked lost on the course.

Tiger on the other hand, played very well and shot -1 (69). This is first time in a decade that he had an “under-par” 1^st round at the US Open.

“I felt very pleased with every facet of my game today,” said Woods in his post round interview. His 69 came on a course with a tight layout and greens that began drying faster as the day got windier. “This is the way I know I can hit the ball.”

The current leader is Michael Thompson, a ‘no-namer’ from Alabama at -4 (66). When asked about his round, the 27 year old said, “I don’t give up very easily, and I’m proud of that.”

It’s not uncommon that someone other then a Woods, Mickelson, or McIlroy sits on top of the leaderboard after the first round of a Major. All that matters is who sits on top late Sunday evening.

The course was very challenging today – dry and windy. We’ll see what tomorrow brings for the earlier crowd, maybe some more moisture on the greens, better pin position, and perhaps, better play.

Other notables like Rory McIlroy (2011 US Open Champion) finished +7 (77). The World Ranked No. 2 golfer was paired with No.1 Luke Donald +9 (79) and No. 3 Lee Westwood +3 (73).

Rickie Fowler and Jason Dufner, both PGA Tour winners this year, finished T23 at -2. A Tour favorite, Matt Kuchar, was even on the day.