June 16, 2011 - Bethesda, MD (AHN)

Luke Donald got the start he was looking for early Thursday morning at the 111th U.S. Open golf championship.

Donald, the world's top-ranked golfer, started on the 10th hole just after 8 a.m.. He birdied the 218-yard par three then followed up with a birdie at the beastly-long 494-yard par four 11th, the hole defending champion Graeme McDowell called, "the hardest hole in the world" earlier this week.

Donald later gave back his two birdies with bogeys at the 193-yard 13th and the 467-yard par four 14th.

Martin Kaymer, playing with Donald, was also even par through his first six holes.

*** U.S. Open Notebook ***

Bubba Watson showed up for his first round with a special outfit designed by his clothing company, Travis Matthews. It is a military tribute outfit with camouflage trousers and an olive drab shirt with stars.

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Rain may become a factor in this championship. It fell early on the 7 a.m. starters and continued for about two hours. More showers were expected early afternoon but trouble could come in the form of late afternoon thunderstorms, which could cause an interruption in play. Rain will also alter the playing conditions and could provide better scoring opportunities with softer greens but the downside will be moisture causing the rough to become tougher to negotiate.

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The 218-yard par three 10th hole proved a tough starting spot. There were no less than four double-bogeys before 8 a.m. and problems continued into the morning. It is all carry over water and early victims included Heath Slocum, Thomas Levet, Marcel Siem, Ryo Ishikawa, Marc Turnesa and Anthony Kim.

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First player to shoot even par 36 on the front nine was Chez Reavie. Defending champion Graeme McDowell was off to a good start, he was one-under through eight, Lee Westwood, the No. 2 ranked player was even par through seven holes while Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was one-under through eight as was Y.E. Yang.

 

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