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Jordan Spieth rolled to a 4-shot victory at the Masters in early April, doing so in wire-to-wire fashion, and while he does not hold the first-round lead at the U.S. Open, the 21-year-old was impressive with a 2-under 68 Thursday as he seeks his second straight major title. "That was a good, solid day," said Spieth. "To shoot 2-under at the U.S. Open, I would've signed for it before the day started. I thought (caddie Michael Greller) and I did some great work."
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Spieth's best finish at a U.S. Open came last year at Pinehurst No. 2, where he ended tied for 17th and 13 shots back of winner Martin Kaymer. Spieth sits just three shots behind leaders Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson.
Trying to become the sixth player ever to win both the Masters and U.S. Open in the same season, Spieth coasted out of the gate with five straight pars before his first bogey on six dropped him to 1-over at Chambers Bay.
Following a par on seven, Spieth got back to even-par when he 2-putted for birdie at the par-5 eighth, which seemed to spark the three-time PGA Tour winner.
Pars at nine and 10 preceded three straight birdies from the Masters champion. Spieth made putts from about three, 20 and 15 feet from No. 11, which vaulted him to within two shots of the leaders.
A bogey on 15 dropped Spieth back to minus-2 and he ended there after a trio of pars finished his day.
"We had to be patient on the front nine. The front nine was definitely the harder nine. There was really only two scoreable holes," Spieth said. "You could take advantage a little bit on the back. I got a couple really nice bounces off slopes that led to a couple shorter-length eagle putts to give me some tap-ins, so that was nice in the middle of the round."
It has been a breakout season for Spieth as he has picked up two victories, seven top-5s and nine top-10s in 16 events played. That success has seen Spieth vault all the way up to the No. 2 player in the world.
WOODS, FOWLER, OOSTHUIZEN HAVE DAY TO FORGET
Three-time champion Tiger Woods, Players champion Rickie Fowler and 2010 Open Championship winner Louis Oosthuizen were paired together on Thursday and the trio proceeded to shoot a combined 28-over par in the first round.
Fowler, who finished inside the top-5 in each of the four majors last season, had the worst day of the three with an 11-over 81 and he ended in 155th. He carded a triple-bogey, two double-bogeys, six bogeys and one eagle on 12 when he nearly holed out for an ace at the par-4.
"I think we're happy to just all be upright, alive and moving on with the day," Fowler said of the group. "See what I can do tomorrow. I mean you never know. Today golf happened. It was a bit tough out there."
Seeking his first major title since winning this championship in 2008 at Torrey Pines, Woods did just one better than Fowler with a 10-over 80, which was his worst score ever at the U.S. Open. His worst previous round was a 77 in 1996 at Oakland Hills when he was still an amateur.
Woods made seven bogeys in his first 13 holes and eight bogeys overall. He also had a triple-bogey on 14 and his lone birdie was a 4-footer at the par-4 16th. The 14-time major champion is tied for 152nd.
"The bright side is at least I kicked Rickie's (behind) today," Woods said jokingly. "The hardest part is leaving yourself below the hole and you can't because the putts coming down the hills are just, they're tough to make, put it that way."
Oosthuizen had the best round of the three, but still carded a 7-over 77. The South African had two birdies on 10 and 16, but tripped to two double-bogeys and five bogeys. He is tied for 135th.
* Leaders Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson both carded 5-under 65s, which is the score Martin Kaymer opened up with en route to an 8-shot victory last year.
* Stenson is seeking to become the fifth European winner in the last six U.S. Opens. Webb Simpson was the last American winner in 2012 at Olympic Club.
* Tiger Woods' 10-over 80 was his second worst round ever in a major. He shot an 81 at the Open Championship at Muirfield in 2002.
* Woods has bogeyed nine of his last 10 opening holes on the PGA Tour.
* Defending champion Martin Kaymer carded a 2-over 72 and is tied with the likes of former U.S. Open winners Rory McIlroy, Webb Simpson, Justin Rose and Ernie Els.
* There were 12 total eagles made on the day, with 11 of them coming at the par-4 12th and one coming at the par-5 18th.
* Amateur Cole Hammer, who is the third-youngest to play a U.S. Open at 15 years old, made a double-bogey and five bogeys en route to a 7-over 77. He is tied for 135th.
* The par-4, 317-yard 12th hole played the easiest on Thursday. It yielded 11 eagles, 47 birdies and just 15 bogeys or worse. Players averaged 3.68 strokes on No. 12.
* The 515-yard, par-4 seventh hole was the toughest on the course in round one. There were just 11 birdies to go along with 53 bogeys, and 13 double- bogeys or worse as No. 7 averaged 4.47 strokes.
[SportsNetwork.com]
