GERMAN IS FIRST-ROUND LEADER AT UNITED STATES OPEN

             Martin Kaymer - Leader by three shots

MARTIN KAYMER SETS PINEHURST 

PACE WITH A FIVE-UNDER-PAR 65

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE

PINEHURST, North Carolina  – History is not on Martin Kaymer’s side this week.
No player has ever won THE PLAYERS Championship and the U.S. Open in the same year. In fact, no PLAYERS champ has ever finished in the top five of the U.S. Open in the same year.
Since Kaymer won a month ago at TPC Sawgrass, his odds coming to Pinehurst weren’t favourable.
His odds, however, greatly improved Thursday.
The German, playing in the afternoon when conditions were supposedly tougher, posted a 5-under 65 to take a three-shot lead after the first round. 
It’s the lowest round ever shot at Pinehurst during the nine rounds the course has hosted a U.S. Open. Just four other players in the 114-year history of the U.S. Open have ever shot lower than 65 in the opening round.

Oh, and it’s the first time a reigning PLAYERS champ has been the solo leader of 18 holes at the U.S. Open. In 1999 – the first time Pinehurst hosted the Open – then-PLAYERS champ David Duval shared the opening round lead with three other players.
The talent Kaymer exhibited a month ago at THE PLAYERS – particularly in the opening round there when he shot a 63 -- was again on display on the No. 2 course Thursday. He produced six birdies, including four in a sizzling back nine.
 His shot-making was superb; he missed just one fairway, and his iron play left him with four short birdie putts. 
A couple of 6-irons late in his round were struck so pure that Kaymer would’ve been happy no matter where the ball ended up. He was particularly impressed with a high draw at the par-3 17th that set up his last birdie.
And then he made key putts when he needed, including a testy par putt on his final hole to keep him in good spirits as he walked off the 18th green.
“Exceptional,” Kaymer said of his 65. “Like at THE PLAYERS, the 9-under par is not normal. So no one should expect me to shoot another 5-under par the next three rounds. I don’t.”
Said playing partner Keegan Bradley: “One of the best rounds I’ve seen.”
Kaymer, whose only other US PGA Tour win was the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, said THE PLAYERS victory last month was a big confidence boost.
“Pretty much like winning a major, at least in my book,” he said. He took off the last two weeks and used the time to reflect on what it meant for his career and his game moving forward.
The statement he made Thursday spoke volumes about his mindset. But there are still 54 holes to go and that nasty bit of history going against him.
“So much golf to play,” he said. “It’s a good start, but it’s nothing more than that.”
MORE: Scores | Tee times | TOUR Report notes | Inside the ropes with Mickelson | Kaymer's bag | FedExCup

AFTERNOON BENEFITS: Players in the afternoon wave are often at a disadvantage, since they don’t get fresh greens like those with early morning tee times. And if a course gets watered overnight, like Pinehurst No. 2 did before Thursday’s first round, the moist conditions could dry up before the afternoon guys tee off.
But several players with afternoon tee times mentioned the one benefit of playing later, particular at a major with extensive TV coverage: They could watch how the course is playing and adjust their game plans accordingly.
Given that Pinehurst played a bit differently on Thursday than in the practice rounds, it was a key advantage.
“It’s quite nice when you play late on Thursday, that you can watch some golf in the morning and try to adjust mentally,” said Martin Kaymer. “(Wednesday) night I thought that it’s going to be very, very firm in the afternoon … but actually it was more playable than I thought.”
Said Keegan Bradley after his 1-under 69: “I watched some of the telecast this morning to watch how things were, and I noticed the balls weren’t jumping like they were.”
Brendon de Jonge said he also watched the morning coverage. “It was easy to see that the ball wasn’t going how it had been in the practice rounds.”
 De Jonge adjusted and shot a 68 that left him in a tie for second with Fran Quinn (who also played in the afternoon) along with morning wave players Kevin Na and Graeme McDowell

THUMB’S UP FOR THE KNICKERS: Rickie Fowler and Phil Mickelson are tight. So when Fowler decided to wear knickers in honor of Payne Stewart in the first round, he was curious to see what the reaction would be from Mickelson, who will forever be linked with Stewart here at Pinehurst.
When Mickelson saw Fowler in the locker room, he smiled and offered a thumb’s up in approval.
“I was waiting to see what I might get out of him today,” Fowler said.
Fowler said the reaction he got not only from Mickelson, but also fellow players as well as fans, left him with a warm feeling. One fan even called him, “Rickie Stewart.”
“Really special,” Fowler said. “Just kind of made me remember and think about Payne.”

Click here for more of Fowler in the first round

BIRDIE COUNT: A year ago, Justin Rose made 15 bogeys en route to winning the U.S. Open with a 1-over total. How many birdies will the winner make this week at Pinehurst?
Graeme McDowell thinks it could be considerably less.
“You aren’t going to make 20 birdies out here. It’s simple as that,” G-Mac said after shooting a 2-under 68. “I think the winner of this tournament is going to make 10 to 12 birdies maximum.”
On Thursday, McDowell had one birdie, along with an eagle. Kevin Na, meanwhile, had four birdies in shooting his 68. Jordan Spieth, in a large group at 69, also had four birdies.
“Four birdies, I think, is a lot in this tournament per round,” Spieth said.
Rory McIlroy had 15 birdies as his target number this week. He had just two in shooting a 71 in the first round.
Brandt Snedeker had six birdies in shooting his 69. Four of those birdies came in his first eight holes, and he easily could have carded a fifth but missed a short birdie putt on his ninth hole.
“I didn’t see that this morning when I woke up,” Snedeker said of his hot start. “The golf course kind of got me back on the back nine.”
Martin Kaymer had six birdies in shooting 65.
 ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES
Par 70

1	Martin Kaymer	65	8:02 am	-	-	-5	F	-5	65
T2	Kevin Na	68	1:03 pm	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T2	Graeme McDowell	68	1:25 pm	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T2	Brendon de Jonge	68	7:29 am	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T2	Fran Quinn	68	8:46 am	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T6	Brandt Snedeker	69	1:03 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Matt Kuchar	69	1:14 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Henrik Stenson	69	1:14 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Brendon Todd	69	1:47 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Hideki Matsuyama	69	1:58 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Jordan Spieth	69	1:58 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Dustin Johnson	69	7:18 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Harris English	69	7:40 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Keegan Bradley	69	8:02 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T6	Francesco Molinari	69	8:13 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T16	Lucas Bjerregaard	70	12:30 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Henrik Norlander	70	12:30 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Marcel Siem	70	12:41 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Phil Mickelson	70	1:36 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Ian Poulter	70	1:36 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Russell Henley	70	1:47 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Joost Luiten	70	1:47 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Rickie Fowler	70	1:58 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Aaron Baddeley	70	2:09 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Brooks Koepka	70	7:07 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Mark Wilson	70	7:07 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Victor Dubuisson	70	7:18 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Steve Stricker	70	7:18 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Jimmy Walker	70	7:18 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Paul Casey	70	7:40 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Charl Schwartzel	70	7:40 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	J.B. Holmes	70	7:51 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Jamie Donaldson	70	8:13 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Seung-yul Noh	70	8:24 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T16	Danny Willett	70	8:35 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T36	Pablo Larrazabal	71	12:52 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Patrick Reed	71	1:03 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Boo Weekley	71	1:14 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Zach Johnson	71	1:25 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Rory McIlroy	71	1:25 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Webb Simpson	71	1:25 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Matthew Fitzpatrick	71	1:36 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Chris Kirk	71	1:47 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Billy Hurley III	71	1:58 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Oliver Goss	71	2:09 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Garth Mulroy	71	6:45 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	John Senden	71	7:07 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Louis Oosthuizen	71	7:51 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T36	Zac Blair	71	8:57 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T50	Daniel Berger	72	12:30 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Erik Compton	72	12:52 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Scott Langley	72	12:52 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Miguel Angel Jimenez	72	1:36 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Justin Rose	72	1:36 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Nicholas Lindheim	72	2:42 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Graeme Storm	72	6:45 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Nicolas Colsaerts	72	7:07 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Bill Haas	72	7:18 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Stewart Cink	72	7:29 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Gary Woodland	72	7:51 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Jason Dufner	72	8:02 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Toru Taniguchi	72	8:13 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Bernd Wiesberger	72	8:13 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Bo Van Pelt	72	8:24 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Simon Griffiths	72	8:46 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Kevin Tway	72	8:46 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T50	Cody Gribble	72	8:57 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T68	Jason Day	73	1:03 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Sergio Garcia	73	1:03 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Stephen Gallacher	73	1:14 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	David Toms	73	1:25 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Thongchai Jaidee	73	1:36 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Jeff Maggert	73	2:09 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Shiv Kapur	73	2:20 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Smylie Kaufman	73	2:31 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Clayton Rask	73	2:42 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Alex Cejka	73	6:45 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Joe Ogilvie	73	7:07 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Jim Furyk	73	7:18 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Shane Lowry	73	7:29 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Adam Scott	73	7:40 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Retief Goosen	73	8:02 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Geoff Ogilvy	73	8:02 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Hyung-Sung Kim	73	8:13 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Rod Pampling	73	8:24 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Ryan Blaum	73	8:35 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T68	Luke Guthrie	73	8:35 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T88	Chad Collins	74	12:41 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Kyoung-Hoon Lee	74	12:41 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Roberto Castro	74	12:52 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Matt Jones	74	12:52 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Angel Cabrera	74	1:25 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Kenny Perry	74	2:09 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Craig Barlow	74	2:20 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Wen-Chong Liang	74	2:20 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Matt Dobyns	74	2:31 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Maverick McNealy	74	2:31 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Andres Echavarria	74	6:56 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Oliver Fisher	74	6:56 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Casey Wittenberg	74	6:56 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Ernie Els	74	7:51 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Hunter Mahan	74	8:13 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Ryan Palmer	74	8:24 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Chris Doak	74	8:46 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T88	Jim Renner	74	8:46 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T106	Rob Oppenheim	75	12:30 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Kevin Kisner	75	12:41 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Andrea Pavan	75	12:41 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Brian Stuard	75	12:41 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Lee Westwood	75	1:14 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Billy Horschel	75	1:58 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Kevin Sutherland	75	2:09 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Justin Thomas	75	2:20 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	David Oh	75	6:45 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Ken Duke	75	7:07 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Justin Leonard	75	7:29 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Y.E. Yang	75	7:29 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Darren Clarke	75	7:51 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Graham DeLaet	75	7:51 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Kevin Streelman	75	8:24 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T106	Hunter Stewart	75	8:57 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T122	Matt Every	76	12:52 pm	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Ryan Moore	76	1:03 pm	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Nick Watney	76	1:47 pm	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Maximilian Kieffer	76	2:20 pm	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Brian Campbell	76	2:42 pm	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Steve Alker	76	6:45 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Niclas Fasth	76	6:56 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Hudson Swafford	76	6:56 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Bubba Watson	76	7:40 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Gonzalo Fernand-Casta	76	8:24 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	David Gossett	76	8:35 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T122	Sam Love	76	8:57 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T134	Brett Stegmaier	77	12:30 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	D.A. Points	77	1:14 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Jonas Blixt	77	1:47 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Brady Watt	77	2:31 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Will Grimmer	77	2:42 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Kevin Stadler	77	7:29 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Luke Donald	77	7:40 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Cory Whitsett	77	8:35 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T134	Azuma Yano	77	8:35 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T143	Cameron Wilson	78	12:30 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T143	Aron Price	78	2:09 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T143	Robby Shelton	78	2:31 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T143	Anthony Broussard	78	2:42 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T143	Nick Mason	78	2:42 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T148	Robert Allenby	79	1:58 pm	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
T148	Tom Lewis	79	2:20 pm	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
T148	Bobby Gates	79	6:45 am	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
T148	Lucas Glover	79	8:02 am	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
T148	Andrew Dorn	79	8:57 am	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
153	Chris Thompson	80	8:57 am	-	-	+10	F	+10	80
154	Kiyoshi Miyazato	81	6:56 am	-	-	+11	F	+11	81
T155	Brandon McIver	82	2:31 pm	-	-	+12	F	+12	82
T155	Donald Constable	82	8:46 am	-	-	+12