June 13, 2008

AUSTRALIANS Geoff Ogilvy, Stuart Appleby and Robert Allenby are in contention after the first round of the US Open at Torrey Pines, each within two shots of surprise leaders Justin Hicks and Kevin Streelman.

Ogilvy, the 2006 US Open champion at Winged Foot, endured a horror start to his round, making two bogeys in his opening three holes after teeing off at the 10th hole, but he then carded five birdies between the 12th and 1st holes before a bogey at the 5th hole to go into the clubhouse at two-under 69, one shot behind Hicks and Streelman.

“You're going to make more than two bogeys in 72 holes out here, I just happened to make two on the first hole.” – Tiger Woods The rueful world No.1 describes his horrors at the opening hole. Ogilvy was equal third after 18 holes with Rocco Mediate, Eric Axley and Appleby, who earlier carded four birdies against two birdies after starting at the 10th hole.

Allenby was a further shot back in tied seventh with a quartet of players including dual US Open champion Ernie Els.

Adam Scott meanwhile posted a respectable 73 in his first round since breaking a bone in his right hand last month, but it wasn't a good day for all the Australians, with Aaron Baddeley and Rod Pampling shooting 74, Craig Parry and Jarrod Lyle 75. Mathew Goggin's hot form also came to a screaming halt as he struggled to a 77.

"I had a decent run of birdies in the middle of the round," Ogilvy said after his round that saw him break par at a US Open for the first time."It's nice to have a decent first round in the afternoon because you know it's potentially going to be a little easier tomorrow when you play your early tee time."

Appleby, who has an appalling record in the tournament, made his best start in 12 Open appearances.

"It's a good start but there's a whole lot more work to do before there's even a chance of holding the trophy," Appleby said, adding that his lofty position on the eladerboard after 18 holes meant "sweet FA".

"I'd have to say I played a lot more solid golf than Stuart Appleby normally plays. I'd like to think I can have three more rounds under par."

Allenby, like Ogilvy, made an awful start, in his case slipping to three-over-par in four holes after teeing off at the 1st, but he rebounded with four successive birdies from the 8th hole before another birdie at the 13th was offset by a bogey at the 15th hole.

Tiger Woods, trying to add to his cache of 13 Major titles despite a near nine-week lay-off in the wake of knee surgery, was another player to make a rocky start, carding a double-bogey six at the 1st hole en route to a one-over 72 as he played with Phil Mickelson and Scott in the glamour threesome of the day.

“You're going to make more than two bogeys in 72 holes out here, I just happened to make two on the first hole,” a rueful Woods said of spotting the field two strokes at the first.

In deep rough off the tee, Woods could only punch out. His third shot bounced through the green into the back rough, from where he chipped up to five feet and two-putted.

The world No.1 bounced back with birdies at the 4th, 8th and 9th hole to reach the turn at one-under. After saving par at the 12th and 13th holes, he dropped two shots at the par-four 14th.

He had a chance to pull one back when he reached the green in two at the par-five 18th, but three-putted.

“I got it back to under par, had a chance to finish even par,” Woods said. “As of right now, I'm four back. Two double-bogeys, a three-putt - to only be four back is not bad. I can clean that up tomorrow. I'm in good shape.”

“So many of my best shots of the day were at five, six, where I burned the edge on all those putts ... all those three putts could have dropped. That would have been really exciting. But it's so early. I'm just trying to enjoy this.” – Kevin StreelmanThe US Open rookie laments missed opportunities.Mickelson meanwhile made three bogeys in a row on the front nine to reach the turn at three-over, but he nabbed four birdies against one bogey coming home to finish the day at even-par 71.

"I guess I could say it was rust, or I just made a couple of dumb mistakes," Mickelson said of his three bogeys from the 5th. "But the back nine I got it turned around and hit some good shots."

Mickelson, who capped his round with a birdie at the last, was pleased with even par.

“Anything around par is kind of your target for the US Open,” said Mickelson, who makes no secret of coveting a title that has so far eluded him. “That's the gauge because everything seems to gravitate around par.

Hicks, a Nationwide Tour player who missed the cut in his only previous Open appearance, in 2004, meanwhile teed off at the 10th hole and didn't record a single par in his first nine holes. After a bogey at the 1st hole, he birdied three in a row before back-to-back bogeys followed by three more birdies.

His second nine was less eventful, with one birdie and one bogey.

“Seven birdies? In one round? I would have thought I would have had to make pretty much everything I looked at,” said Hicks, who has played in the US Open once before, in 2004.

“I made some good putts out there, and I missed some putts as well.

“I just gave myself a lot of looks at it and just kept trying to make as many as I could.”
Streelman, a US PGA Tour rookie contesting his first US Open, made six birdies against two bogeys to stand alone atop the leaderboard before a bogey at his last hole, the 9th, saw him tumble into a share of the lead.

"I thought I hit a perfect hybrid down the fairway and it shot through and jumped into that other cut of rough - I just caught a flier to be honest," Streelman said of his second bogey of the day.

"I was pretty much in a lot of trouble over the back if that green."

Streelman said his round could have been even better.

"So many of my best shots of the day were at five, six, where I burned the edge on all those putts, then a great save at seven," he said.

"All those three putts could have dropped. That would have been really exciting. But it's so early. I'm just trying to enjoy this."

Name NAT Hole To Par 1 2 3 4 Total
T1 Justin Hicks USA F -3 68 68
T1 Kevin Streelman USA F -3 69 69
T3 Rocco Mediate USA F -2 69 69
T3 Stuart Appleby AUS F -2 69 69
T3 Eric Axley USA F -2 69 69
T3 Geoff Ogilvy AUS F -2 69 69
T7 Rickie Fowler USA F -1 70 70
T7 Robert Karlsson SWE F -1 70 70
T7 Robert Allenby AUS F -1 70 70
T7 Ernie Els RSA F -1 70 70
T7 Lee Westwood ENG F -1 70 70



US Open Round Two Pairings And Tee TimesHole No.1
0000 (EST): Michael Allen (US), Jonathan Turcott (US), Scott Sterling (US)
0011: Kevin Streelman (US), Artemio Murakami (Phi), Robert Dinwiddie (GB)
0022: Bart Bryant (US), D.J. Trahan (US), Chad Campbell (US)
0033: a-Gary Wolstenholme (GB), Richard Sterne (RSA), Hunter Mahan (US)
0044: Ian Poulter (GB), Paul Casey (GB), Luke Donald (GB)
0055: Henrik Stenson (Swe), Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), John Rollins (US)
0106: Justin Rose (GB), Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Ernie Els (RSA)
0117: Camilo Villegas (Col), Charles Howell (US), Martin Kaymer (Ger)
0128: Jeff Quinney (US), Justin Leonard (US), Mark O'Meara (US)
0139: Rory Sabbatini (RSA), David Toms (US), Colin Montgomerie (GB)
0150: John Mallinger (US), Alastair Forsyth (GB), John Merrick (US)
0201: Chris Stroud (US), Ross McGowan (GB), Ian Leggatt (Can)
0212: John Ellis (US), a-Jimmy Henderson (US), Andrew Dresser (US)
0330: Robert Garrigus (US), Peter Tomasulo (US), Craig Barlow (US)
0341: a-Derek Fathauer (US), Scott Piercy (US), Justin Hicks (US)
0352: K.J. Choi (Kor), Jim Furyk (US), Steve Stricker (US)
0403: a-Michael Thompson (US), Rocco Mediate (US), Brad Bryant (US)
0414: Craig Parry (Aus), Robert Karlsson (Swe), Tim Clark (RSA)
0425: Stuart Appleby (Aus), Jerry Kelly (US), Lee Westwood (GB)
0436: Woody Austin (US), Pat Perez (US), Thomas Levet (Fra)
0447: Matt Kuchar (US), Mathew Goggin (Aus), Nick Watney (US)
0458: Rod Pampling (Aus), Heath Slocum (US), Niclas Fasth (Swe)
0509: Carl Pettersson (Swe), Soren Hansen (Den), Daniel Chopra (Swe)
0520: Johan Edfors (Swe), Eric Axley (US), Ben Crane (US)
0531: Joey Lamielle (US), a-Michael Quagliano (US), Fernando Figueroa (Slv)
0542: Chris Devlin (GB), Yohann Benson (Can), Brian Bergstol (US)

Hole No.10
0000 (EST): D.J. Brigman (US), Jon Mills (Can), Jarrod Lyle (Aus)
0011: a-Nick Taylor (Can), Charlie Beljan (US), Rob Rashell (US)
0022: Stewart Cink (US), Sergio Garcia (Spa), Vijay Singh (Fij)
0033: Trevor Immelman (RSA), Zach Johnson (US), Mike Weir (Can)
0044: Retief Goosen (RSA), Scott Verplank (US), Aaron Baddeley (Aus)
0055: Stephen Ames (Can), Robert Allenby (Aus), Ben Curtis (US)
0106: Angel Cabrera (Arg), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Davis Love (US)
0117: Bubba Watson (US), J.B. Holmes (US), Andrew Svoboda (US)
0128: Brandt Snedeker (US), Nick Dougherty (GB), Jonathan Byrd (US)
0139: Michael Letzig (US), Ross Fisher (GB), Steve Marino (US)
0150: Brandt Jobe (US), Phillip Archer (GB), Jason Gore (US)
0201: Kevin Silva (US), Bobby Collins (US), Jay Choi (Kor)
0212: Bob Gaus (US), Philippe Gasnier (Bra), Garrett Chaussard (US)
0330: D.A. Points (US), Patrick Sheehan (US), David Hearn (Can)
0341: a-Kyle Stanley (US), Casey Wittenberg (US), Hunter Haas (US)
0352: a-Kevin Tway (US), Jason Bohn (US), Dean Wilson (US)
0403: a-Jeff Wilson (US), Fredrik Jacobson (Swe), Brett Quigley (US)
0414: a-Rickie Fowler (US), Chris Kirk (US), Dustin Johnson (US)
0425: Mark Calcavecchia (US), Oliver Wilson (GB), Joe Ogilvie (US)
0436: Adam Scott (Aus), Phil Mickelson (US), Tiger Woods (US)
0447: Lee Janzen (US), Steve Flesch (US), Rich Beem (US)
0458: Michael Campbell (NZ), Jesper Parnevik (Swe), Todd Hamilton (US)
0509: Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Boo Weekley (US), Shingo Katayama (Jpn)
0520: Anthony Kim (US), Andres Romero (Arg), Ryuji Imada (Jpn)
0531: Mike Gilmore (US), a-Jordan Cox (US), Brian Kortan (US)
0542: Jeffrey Bors (US), Sean English (US), Travis Bertoni (US)

(a- denotes amateur player)