The world number nine found just seven greens in regulation as he played some wayward golf tee to green, but superb recovery play meant he needed only 22 putts to finish two under par alongside former US PGA Champion Shaun Micheel and Zimbabwe’s Brendon De Jonge.
The trio finished a shot ahead of a six-way tie for fourth place shared by Ian Poulter, Alex Cejka, Ryo Ishikawa,Ping G20 KJ Choi, Mike Weir and Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Poulter, Choi and Weir made the best of slightly easier early conditions to post their scores in the morning.
Scoring conditions at the California course were good, with sunshine and a relatively light breeze blowing throughout the day, yet the competitors struggled to master the fast, bouncy greens, with three-putts common and even four-putts being witnessed during the opening round.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods both endured difficult days, with Mickelson struggling on the greens on his way to a birdie-less 75, and Woods failing to make a birdie in his first 10 holes despite hitting every green in regulation.
The world number one found his putting tough over the final eight holes, but by then had started spraying tee shots and approaches around the course as he racked up a three-over-par 74.
Lee Westwood fought back from dropping four shots in his opening five holes to also score a 74, and with the field tightly bunched all three will consider themselves in contention.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is also not out of things despite a disappointing opening round of 75 in which his inability to find the course’s small greens cost him dear.
A one-under-par 70 saw Poulter safely in the clubhouse early on alongside former Masters champion Weir, Korean star Choi and unknown Spanish journeyman Cabrera-Bello, with Poulter’s fellow Englishman Luke Donald and American David Toms one shot back after 71s.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington posted a pair of late birdies to shoot a 73, but it was the flamboyant Poulter –Callaway FT dressed in pink sweater and Bob Hope-style checked trousers – who dominated the early proceedings after an impressive round which could have been several shots better.
Poulter slipped up on the second hole of the day, but picked up shots on the 3rd and 6th to get under par on a day when hard, fast conditions made scoring difficult despite beautiful sunshine and a gentle breeze on the Monterrey peninsula.
Missed birdie putts on the 10th, 11th and 12th left him frustrated, but he holed from off the green on the 13th to go two under par – yet handed the shot back on the tough par-5 14th.
A lucky tee shot on the 17th gave him another chance which he left just short, but he made up for the disappointment with a superb sand save on the last after visiting the sand three times.
Fellow clubhouse leader Weir also had a shaky finish: four birdies in five holes from the 12th got him to three under par, but he dropped shots on the final two holes to slip back to one under.
Choi had started his round with a bogey on the first and a double bogey on the second, but seemed to be on course for a superb round after six birdies in 11 holes from the 4th to the 14th took him to three under.
Yet the Korean also faltered late on, dropping shots on the 15th and 17th to end up with a 70.
Surprise package Cabrera-Bello – who normally plies his trade on the second-tier European Challenge Tour –fer callaway diablo edge was in the first group out starting on the 10th tee, and played steadily to ride high on the leaderboard in his first US Open appearance.
The trio finished a shot ahead of a six-way tie for fourth place shared by Ian Poulter, Alex Cejka, Ryo Ishikawa,Ping G20 KJ Choi, Mike Weir and Rafael Cabrera-Bello. Poulter, Choi and Weir made the best of slightly easier early conditions to post their scores in the morning.
Scoring conditions at the California course were good, with sunshine and a relatively light breeze blowing throughout the day, yet the competitors struggled to master the fast, bouncy greens, with three-putts common and even four-putts being witnessed during the opening round.
Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods both endured difficult days, with Mickelson struggling on the greens on his way to a birdie-less 75, and Woods failing to make a birdie in his first 10 holes despite hitting every green in regulation.
The world number one found his putting tough over the final eight holes, but by then had started spraying tee shots and approaches around the course as he racked up a three-over-par 74.
Lee Westwood fought back from dropping four shots in his opening five holes to also score a 74, and with the field tightly bunched all three will consider themselves in contention.
Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy is also not out of things despite a disappointing opening round of 75 in which his inability to find the course’s small greens cost him dear.
A one-under-par 70 saw Poulter safely in the clubhouse early on alongside former Masters champion Weir, Korean star Choi and unknown Spanish journeyman Cabrera-Bello, with Poulter’s fellow Englishman Luke Donald and American David Toms one shot back after 71s.
Ireland’s Padraig Harrington posted a pair of late birdies to shoot a 73, but it was the flamboyant Poulter –Callaway FT dressed in pink sweater and Bob Hope-style checked trousers – who dominated the early proceedings after an impressive round which could have been several shots better.
Poulter slipped up on the second hole of the day, but picked up shots on the 3rd and 6th to get under par on a day when hard, fast conditions made scoring difficult despite beautiful sunshine and a gentle breeze on the Monterrey peninsula.
Missed birdie putts on the 10th, 11th and 12th left him frustrated, but he holed from off the green on the 13th to go two under par – yet handed the shot back on the tough par-5 14th.
A lucky tee shot on the 17th gave him another chance which he left just short, but he made up for the disappointment with a superb sand save on the last after visiting the sand three times.
Fellow clubhouse leader Weir also had a shaky finish: four birdies in five holes from the 12th got him to three under par, but he dropped shots on the final two holes to slip back to one under.
Choi had started his round with a bogey on the first and a double bogey on the second, but seemed to be on course for a superb round after six birdies in 11 holes from the 4th to the 14th took him to three under.
Yet the Korean also faltered late on, dropping shots on the 15th and 17th to end up with a 70.
Surprise package Cabrera-Bello – who normally plies his trade on the second-tier European Challenge Tour –fer callaway diablo edge was in the first group out starting on the 10th tee, and played steadily to ride high on the leaderboard in his first US Open appearance.