AT&T temps (and scores) high

Associated Press

BETHESDA, Md.

Bo Van Pelt kept bogeys off his card and picked up an extra shot when his wedge spun back into the hole for an eagle. It’s a formula that would work well at a U.S. Open, which is what Congressional felt like Thursday in the AT&T National.

On a day when the temperature was in the 90s and only seven players managed a score in the 60s, Van Pelt opened with a 4-under 67 to grab a one-shot lead over Vijay Singh, Brendon De Jonge and Jimmy Walker, who bogeyed his final hole.

Tiger Woods was never under par in the afternoon and opened with a 1-over 72.

So this is what the U.S. Open was supposed to look like.

The venerable Blue Course took a beating last year in the so-called toughest test in golf when unfavorable weather conditions in the weeks leading up to the U.S. Open and overnight rain during the championship made Congressional a pushover. Rory McIlroy had a record score of 16-under 268 for an eight-shot victory.

The AT&T National was more of a grind.

“It’s certainly, I think, a little retribution for what happened last year,” Woods said. “Don’t be mad at me. I didn’t play.”

Woods missed the U.S. Open last year while recovering from injuries to his left leg. He won at Congressional in 2009 the last time the AT&T National was played here, and he won at 13-under 267. That was nothing like the course he faced Thursday.

Billy Hurley III, who went to the Naval Academy and spent five years in the service, joined Pat Perez and Jason Day at 2-under 69.

The seven players in the 60s were two less than the opening round at the U.S. Open last year. Four players failed to break 80, just like a year ago, only the 120-man field at the AT&T National is filled with PGA Tour players. For the U.S. Open, two of those rounds in the 80s were by amateurs, a third by Ty Tryon.