Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson set US Open pace with 65s

Tiger Woods hardly recognisable during opening 80 at Chambers Bay

Tiger Woods reads a putt during the first round of the U.S. Open. ( USGA )

FROM GOLF WEEK.COM

By Alex Miceli

UNIVERSITY PLACE, Washington – Tiger Woods won his first U.S. Open in 2000 by 15 shot, the biggest margin of victory in the history of the national championship.

In Thursday’s first round, 15 years to the day since his record finish at Pebble Beach, Woods was again on a seaside layout and breaking a far less admirable record – his worst score in a U.S. Open. Woods’ 10-over 80 is a new low/high.
Woods came to Chambers Bay after struggling to make the cut (on the number) at the Memorial Tournament two weeks ago.
He followed up his third made cut of the year at Muirfield Village with his worst score of his career as a professional, a 13-over 85 in Saturday’s third round to finish 71st at a tournament he has won five times.
Currently 195th in the Official World Golf Ranking, Woods barely played up to that ranking on Thursday with a triple bogey, eight bogeys and just one birdie.
“Not very happy, that’s for sure,” Woods said. “It was a tough day. Got off to a bad start. I stuck that 6-iron in the ground on the first hole, and then just couldn’t quite get it turned around today.”
Before Thursday, Woods’ worst score in a U.S. Open was 76 – a number he posted four times. His worst score in any major remains the 81 he posted at the 2002 Open Championship at Muirfield.
“I fought hard,” Woods said after his round “And that was my number. I couldn’t grind out any harder than that. So that’s just the way I played and unfortunately it was a high number today. “
Woods’ struggles started early. He hit the middle of the fairway on the par-4 first hole, but couldn’t find the green, which was a theme for the day as he hit only nine of 18 greens.
Woods’ drive on the first was also a rarity. He found only six fairways on Thursday afternoon and unlike other times this year when Woods struggled and could depend on his putter, not even that club worked in the first round. He had 36 putts, which included a trio of three-putts.
 “I know when I do it right, it’s so easy,” Woods said of his swing. “It just feels easy to control, easy to do it, easy to hit all my shots. I just need to do it more often and build from there.”
Unfortunately for Woods, those good swings are outnumbered by swings that don’t even resemble the one Woods used in winning 14 major championships.
Woods knows the results will be slow – it’s not his first go-round making swing changes – and while he continues to believe in the path he is on with Chris Como, the question is what happens if the desired results never come.
“It’s one of those things, just got to work through it,” Woods said. “I’m trying as hard as I can to do it, and for some reason I just can’t get the consistency that I’d like to have out there.”

SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW ALL THE SCORES

Dustin Johnson, Henrik Stenson share lead on five-under 65s

FROM GOLF CHANNEL.COM
The carnage has already begun at the U.S. Open, but several big names made an early splash at Chambers Bay. Here's how things look after the first round in the Pacific Northwest, where Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson share the lead:
Leaderboard: Dustin Johnson (-5), Henrik Stenson (-5), Patrick Reed (-4), Matt Kuchar (-3), (a) Brian Campbell (-3), Jordan Spieth (-2), Jason Day (-2)
What it means: Johnson made the first move to the top of the standings, separating from a pack of early contenders and briefly threatening major golf's holy grail of 63. Despite a closing bogey, he shot a 65 and now shares the lead with Stenson, another player in search of his first major title.
Round of the day: Johnson started on the back nine, turning in 2-under 33 before adding four birdies in a seven-hole stretch on his inward half. He found 14 of 18 greens in regulation and made his lone blemish on No. 9 after failing to birdie the par-5 eighth hole.
Best of the rest: Stenson carded seven birdies on his round, including four in a five-hole stretch from Nos. 14-18. Like Johnson, Stenson missed only four greens in regulation and the Swede needed only 27 putts to complete his round.
Biggest disappointment: Tiger Woods' freefall continues after he posted a 10-over 80. Woods didn't make a birdie until the 16th hole, made a triple bogey on No. 14 and cold-topped a 3-wood on his final hole of the day. He appears to be headed for what would be only his second missed cut at the U.S. Open as a professional.
Main storyline heading into Friday: Aside from the morbid curiosity that will accompany Woods' round, the player to watch is Johnson, who appeared most in control among the leaders during his opener. Perennial contender Phil Mickelson (69) is already on the fringe of the leaderboard, while Rory McIlroy (72) sits seven shots off the pace and needs to rebound.
Shot of the day: Rickie Fowler didn't have many highlights during an opening 81, but he nearly had an albatross on the par-4 12th hole. Fowler's tee shot bounded over a mound and rolled back toward the cup, setting up a tap-in eagle.
SCOTSWATCH. Marc Warren is off to a great start with a 68 for T7 position. Colin Montgomerie is T14 with a 69.
Highlander Jimmy Gunn, making his major debut, had a respectable 72 for T52.
Stephen Gallacher shot a 78 to be T141

ALL THE FIRST-ROUND SCORES
 par 70

T1	Dustin Johnson	65	5:17 pm	-	-	-5	F	-5	65
T1	Henrik Stenson	65	5:17 pm	-	-	-5	F	-5	65
3	Patrick Reed	66	5:39 pm	-	-	-4	F	-4	66
T4	Matt Kuchar	67	5:06 pm	-	-	-3	F	-3	67
T4	Ben Martin	67	11:39 am	-	-	-3	F	-3	67
T4	Brian Campbell	67	12:01 pm	-	-	-3	F	-3	67
T7	Cody Gribble	68	4:22 pm	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T7	Francesco Molinari	68	5:17 pm	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T7	Jason Dufner	68	5:50 pm	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T7	Marc Warren	68	5:50 pm	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T7	Joost Luiten	68	10:44 am	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T7	Jason Day	68	11:17 am	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T7	Jordan Spieth	68	11:17 am	-	-	-2	F	-2	68
T14	Phil Mickelson	69	4:33 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Kevin Chappell	69	4:55 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Brian Harman	69	4:55 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Brandt Snedeker	69	5:17 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Miguel Angel Jimenez	69	5:28 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Colin Montgomerie	69	5:28 pm	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Geoff Ogilvy	69	10:33 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Charlie Beljan	69	10:44 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Tony Finau	69	10:44 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Ollie Schniederjans	69	10:55 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Branden Grace	69	11:06 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T14	Shane Lowry	69	11:39 am	-	-	-1	F	-1	69
T26	Michael Putnam	70	4:00 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Cameron Smith	70	4:00 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Angel Cabrera	70	4:33 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Bubba Watson	70	4:33 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Alexander Levy	70	4:55 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Masahiro Kawamura	70	5:06 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Hideki Matsuyama	70	5:06 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Sergio Garcia	70	5:17 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Adam Scott	70	5:17 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Chris Kirk	70	5:39 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Kevin Na	70	5:50 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Sebastian Cappelen	70	6:01 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Nick Hardy	70	6:12 pm	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Brad Fritsch	70	10:00 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Jamie Lovemark	70	10:11 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T26	Daniel Summerhays	70	11:06 am	-	-	E	F	E	70
T42	Marcus Fraser	71	4:00 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Morgan Hoffmann	71	4:44 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Jim Furyk	71	5:28 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Russell Henley	71	5:39 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Andres Romero	71	10:00 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Beau Hossler	71	10:11 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Denny McCarthy	71	10:11 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Kevin Kisner	71	10:55 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Thongchai Jaidee	71	11:06 am	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T42	Cheng-Tsung Pan	71	12:01 pm	-	-	+1	F	+1	71
T52	Troy Kelly	72	4:00 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	John Parry	72	4:11 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Kurt Barnes	72	4:22 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	John Senden	72	4:33 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Hiroyuki Fujita	72	4:44 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	David Hearn	72	4:44 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Andy Sullivan	72	4:44 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Bernd Wiesberger	72	4:44 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Martin Kaymer	72	5:28 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Rory McIlroy	72	5:28 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Brooks Koepka	72	5:39 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Webb Simpson	72	5:50 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Shiv Kapur	72	10:11 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	J.B. Holmes	72	10:22 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Ernie Els	72	10:33 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Danny Willett	72	10:44 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	George Coetzee	72	10:55 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Paul Casey	72	11:17 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Billy Horschel	72	11:17 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Justin Rose	72	11:17 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Zach Johnson	72	11:39 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Ian Poulter	72	11:39 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Jimmy Walker	72	11:39 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Camilo Villegas	72	11:50 am	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Mark Silvers	72	12:01 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Jimmy Gunn	72	12:12 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T52	Sam Saunders	72	12:12 pm	-	-	+2	F	+2	72
T79	Lucas Bjerregaard	73	4:11 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Jack Maguire	73	4:11 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Wen-Chong Liang	73	4:44 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Marcel Siem	73	4:55 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Byeong-Hun An	73	5:39 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Keegan Bradley	73	5:50 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Oliver Farr	73	6:01 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Tom Hoge	73	10:00 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Luke Donald	73	10:22 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Lucas Glover	73	10:33 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Marc Leishman	73	10:33 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Bo Van Pelt	73	10:44 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Lee Janzen	73	10:55 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Alexander Noren	73	10:55 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Lee Westwood	73	11:17 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Bill Haas	73	11:28 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Hunter Mahan	73	11:28 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Charl Schwartzel	73	11:28 am	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T79	Davis Riley	73	12:12 pm	-	-	+3	F	+3	73
T98	Seuk-Hyun Baek	74	4:00 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Richard H. Lee	74	4:11 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Garth Mulroy	74	4:11 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Jason Allred	74	4:22 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Stephan Jaeger	74	4:22 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Tim O'Neal	74	4:22 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Victor Dubuisson	74	4:33 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Gary Woodland	74	4:33 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Lee McCoy	74	4:55 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Robert Streb	74	4:55 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Graeme McDowell	74	5:06 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Gunn Yang	74	5:28 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Jamie Donaldson	74	5:39 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Brandon Hagy	74	6:01 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Kevin Lucas	74	6:12 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Roberto Castro	74	10:00 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	D.A. Points	74	10:11 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Bryson DeChambeau	74	10:22 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Ryo Ishikawa	74	10:22 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Ryan Palmer	74	10:44 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Thomas Aiken	74	11:06 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Tommy Fleetwood	74	11:50 am	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Jake Knapp	74	12:01 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Matt Mabrey	74	12:01 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T98	Andy Pope	74	12:12 pm	-	-	+4	F	+4	74
T123	Steve Marino	75	4:00 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T123	George McNeill	75	5:06 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T123	Cameron Tringale	75	5:06 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T123	Sam Horsfield	75	6:01 pm	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T123	Anirban Lahiri	75	11:50 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T123	Ryan Moore	75	11:50 am	-	-	+5	F	+5	75
T129	Matthew NeSmith	76	6:01 pm	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T129	Jason Palmer	76	10:00 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T129	Brad Elder	76	10:11 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T129	Bradley Neil	76	10:33 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T129	Erik Compton	76	11:50 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T129	Charley Hoffman	76	11:50 am	-	-	+6	F	+6	76
T135	Cole Hammer	77	6:12 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T135	Tjaart Van der Walt	77	10:00 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T135	Retief Goosen	77	10:33 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T135	Darren Clarke	77	10:55 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T135	Louis Oosthuizen	77	11:28 am	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T135	Michael Davan	77	12:12 pm	-	-	+7	F	+7	77
T141	Kyle Jones	78	4:22 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Matt Every	78	5:50 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Shunsuke Sonoda	78	6:01 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Blayne Barber	78	10:22 am	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Danny Lee	78	11:06 am	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Brendon Todd	78	11:06 am	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Stephen Gallacher	78	11:39 am	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Tyler Duncan	78	12:01 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T141	Jared Becher	78	12:12 pm	-	-	+8	F	+8	78
T150	Josh Persons	79	4:11 pm	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
T150	Pat Wilson	79	6:12 pm	-	-	+9	F	+9	79
T152	Alex Kim	80	6:12 pm	-	-	+10	F	+10	80
T152	Billy Hurley III	80	10:22 am	-	-	+10	F	+10	80
T152	Tiger Woods	80	11:28 am	-	-	+10	F	+10	80
155	Rickie Fowler	81	11:28 am	-	-	+11	F	+11	81
156	Rich Berberian Jr.	83	6:12 pm	-	-	+13	F	+13	83