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All the talk prior to the start of the US Open was about Chambers Bay and how players would perform on the new course. Well, we found a partial answer to that question on the first day of the tournament.
Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson are tied on top of the leaderboard at the moment with scores of 5-under 65 . Johnson’s compatriot Patrick Reed is in third position behind by one stroke. Matt Kuchar, Ben Martin and Brian Campbell are all tied for fourth place with 3-under 65.
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Johnson was on course to finish on 63, the lowest score recorded in a Major, but a poor tee on the par-3 ninth meant he couldn’t save par, resulting in the final tally of 65. On the other hand, Stenson rallied back brilliantly as he made birdies on four of his final five holes to share the lead.
Reed began confidently, but a pair of birdies and bogeys on the second nine dented his chances of finishing on top. Masters champion Jordan Spieth is tied on 2-under 65 with Australian Jason Day. Spieth will go for the charge and could reduce the lead in the early goings on the second day.
Forgettable day for Tiger
Tiger Woods is almost at the bottom of the table after a disastrous day at the office. He shot 10-over-par 80 and is tied in 152nd with Billy Hurley III. He couldn’t have asked for a worst start to his campaign with a bogey-bogey start.
Wild drives, short-iron failures and missed putts added to the frustration as he threw his club over his left shoulder well over 30 feet. After missing the 13th fairway,the former World No. 1 struggled with par-four holes with eight bogeys and a triple-bogey seven.
It wasn’t a great outing for Woods’ partners Rickie Fowler and Louis Oosthuizen as well. The trio scored a combined 28-over-par. Fowler is behind Woods by a stroke.
"It's one of those things, just got to work through it," Woods said. "I'm trying as hard as I can to do it and for some reason I just can't get the consistency that I'd like to have out there."
McIlroy struggles
World No. 1 Rory McIlroy didn’t have his way either. The 2011 champion ended with a disappointing 2-over-par 72, seven strokes behind leaders Johnson and Stensen. McIlroy made just two birdies to go with four bogeys.
"I hit my irons well," McIlroy said.
"You are going to hit to 20, 25 feet a lot here. I just didn't take my chances when they came along. I had a couple of misreads on the greens and a couple of bad strokes. When you lose the line, you stop trusting yourself.. ... I'll go to the practice green now and see if I can figure a few things out."
Phil Mickelson is still in the hunt to complete his career Grand Slam. The American is 1-under 69 to finish tied 14th at the end of Day 1. He was 3-under par after eight holes, but three bogeys on the back nine hurt his chances of getting into the top 10.
India’s Shiv Kapur finished with 2-over-par 72, while Anirban Lahiri is 5-over-par 75.
