Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson set the first-round pace at the US Open on Thursday on a day of remarkable highs and lows as Tiger Woods shot an 80, his fourth-worst score as a professional.
American Johnson and Swede Stenson fired matching five-under-par 65s on a firm and fast-running Chambers Bay layout, while Phil Mickelson made an encouraging start with a 69.
Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung shot a one-over-par 71.
Photo: USA Today
The long-hitting Johnson piled up six birdies and a lone bogey to finish level with Stenson, who birdied four of his last five holes at the British Open-style venue in the year’s second major, being played for the first time in the Pacific Northwest.
They were one stroke ahead of American Patrick Reed, while Americans Matt Kuchar, Ben Martin and amateur Brian Campbell trailed by two.
“I hit the ball really well ... had a lot of good looks at birdie all day,” Johnson, who like Stenson is seeking a first major title, told reporters. “It’s firm, but you could control your golf ball, for sure. Today I controlled my ball very well. The confidence is definitely there. I feel really good about where I’m at and going into tomorrow.”
Photo: AFP
Stenson joined Johnson at the top after draining a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th for a homeward nine of four-under 31.
“It was a good day,” the Swedish world No. 6 said. “I was striking it nicely, which led to a lot of birdie opportunities for me. I felt like I was really keeping my patience and a level head out there. I hit some beautiful putts and managed to slip a few in there. It was a good way to finish the day.”
Mickelson, who is yearning to complete a career Grand Slam of the four majors by winning his first US Open, was “very pleased” after a round that included four birdies and three bogeys.
“I hit a lot of good shots today,” said Mickelson, a runner-up at the US Open a record six times. “I shot under-par the first day of the US Open.
“The first round was the round I was going to be most nervous at, getting started. You don’t want to have to fight to come back all the time. You want to get off to a solid start around par. I’m very pleased with the way the round went.”
It was an average morning for Northern Ireland’s world No. 1 Rory McIlroy. Seeking his fifth major victory, he birdied his second hole, but never got into top gear as he struggled on the greens to return a 72.
“I need to find a rhythm in my stroke over the next three days, work a bit on the putting green,” McIlroy said. “Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.”
Masters champion Jordan Spieth, who played in the more difficult conditions of the afternoon as the course firmed up, was delighted to open with a 68.
“It was a good solid day,” the 21-year-old Texan said. “To shoot two under at the US Open, I would have signed for that before I started.”
Woods, who has been struggling for form and won the most recent of his 14 major titles at the 2008 US Open, endured a nightmare day at Chambers Bay.
Wayward off the tee, the former world No. 1 toiled away in bunkers and thick fescue rough before ending his round with a bogey at the par-five 18th where he cold-topped a three-wood from the middle of the fairway.
“Not very happy, that’s for sure,” Woods said after racking up eight bogeys, a triple at the par-four 14th and a solitary birdie. “It was a tough day. Got off to a bad start ... and then just couldn’t quite get it turned around today.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier