Oakmont plays easy; is worst ahead?

OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Oakmont was as easy as it gets. The U.S. Open was as tough as ever.

Even with a half-inch of rain on the eve of the championship and several hole locations that showed a compassionate side of the USGA, Nick Dougherty and Angel Cabrera were the only players who managed to break par Thursday in an opening round that left players wondering if the worst was ahead of them.

Dougherty, a 25-year-old from England, played in the fourth group of the still morning and quickly raised hopes of ending a European drought in the majors that stretches back to 1999. He took only 11 putts on the back nine in his round of 2-under 68, a score not many thought possible earlier in the week.

Doublespeak

“I think the course is — I hate saying it — easy,” Dougherty said, sounding like that might come back to haunt him. “Goodness, I shouldn’t have said that. No, absolutely not. The course is barbaric.”

Cabrera was one of only two players who reached 3 under, and lost a share of the lead with a bogey on the 313-yard 17th.

Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal shot even-par 70, while the large group at 71 included Tiger Woods, defending champion Geoff Ogilvy, Jim Furyk and Vijay Singh.

Woods holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the sixth hole that put him 1 under, his first time in red numbers at this major since the second round at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2005. He gave it back two holes later and never caught up to par.

“It’s as easy as it’s going to play, and it’s still pretty hard,” Woods said. “Imagine if it didn’t rain last night.”

Warren JFK High graduate Jason Kokrak, who earned a qualifying spot, shot a 6-over 76. Kokrak, the Ohio prep golfer of the year, recently finished at Xavier, where he was honorable mention All-America.

Kept his word

“When I first came to Oakmont, I played at the U.S. Amateur in 2003 and missed the cut,” he said. “I walked off the golf course and said, ‘I guess I’m just going to have to make the Open in ’07.”

Because Warren is 90 minutes from Pittsburgh, Kokrak had a large cheering section. When the ball lipped out from the fairway on the par-4 17th, costing him an eagle, the cheers were as loud as if it had gone in.

“I have so much support here,” he said. “I couldn’t even tell you how many.”

With greens that Olazabal described as rock-hard only a day ago, Oakmont was softened by the Wednesday night thunderstorms and cloud cover through the better part of the morning. The greens were still fast, but players had to guard against too much spin with a wedge in their hands, and some longer irons didn’t roll too far away.

Phil Mickelson didn’t make a birdie in his round of 74. He didn’t break his wrist, either.

It was his highest opening round at the U.S. Open in 10 years, and all things considered, it wasn’t too bad. Mickelson, dealing with inflammation in his left wrist that requires him to wear a brace, played 18 holes for the first time since he won The Players Championship. He didn’t have many looks at birdie, but he played the final eight holes without a bogey.

Positive thinking

“We’ve got a long ways to go,” he said. “I just need one good round tomorrow to get me in it for the weekend. I fought the last eight holes to keep me in it, and if I do well tomorrow, that’s all I care about.”

There wasn’t anything too crazy at Oakmont, other than Tom Byrum hitting through the ninth green and into one of the holes on the putting green. He got a free drop and escaped with par.

There weren’t too many spectacular crashes, just high scores. Seventeen players failed to break 80, while Sergio Garcia parred his last three holes to shoot 79. Masters champion Zach Johnson shot 76 and wasn’t sure what to think about it.

“It’s hard to figure out what par is,” Johnson said. “I didn’t make any big numbers. But I didn’t make any birdies.”

He was far from alone. In all, 28 players failed to make a single birdie.