June 16, 2011 - Bethesda, MD (AHN)

Rory McIlroy put his incredible talent on display Thursday at Congressional Country Club and once again showed the kind of magic he can produce in a major championship.

The 22-year-old superstar from Northern Ireland had a dazzling round of six-under par 65 that gave him a three-shot lead on opening day of the 111th U.S. Open championship.

 

McIlroy, who had led ithe first round in three of the last four majors, was a fairway-hitting machine and hit nearly every green during his bogey-free effort. He started on the back nine and shot a three-under par 32 on that difficult nine, including birdies at the 17th and 18th holes.

He kept his momentum with a birdie at the first then he hit his approached shot within three feet at the 470-yard fourth hole and made the putt to get to five-under on his round. He added his final birdie with a booming 321-yard drive at the par five sixth then hit his second within 12-feet of the hole and narrowly missed his eagle attempt but tapped in for his sixth birdie of the day.

"It was a good round of golf. I just need to keep it going," he said after running circles around playing partners Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. "I didn't make any mistakes, which is huge in a U.S. Open. I feel comfortable with my game. I'm comfortable on this course. I have to go back out tomorrow (Friday) and put myself in a good position for the weekend."

While McIlroy didn't make any mistakes, Mickelson had plenty including his first shot of the day that found the water at the par three 10th and led to an opening double-bogey. Mickelson then turned into "Wild Phil" and found very few fairways and greens and he'd struggle to a three-over par 74. It was a cruel 41st birthday for Mickelson, who found no presents waiting for him on the course.

Johnson stumbled early with a triple-bogey at the 494-yard 11th and put up a 75.

There are some very accomplished players in pursuit of McIlroy, including Masters champ Charl Schwartzel and 2009 PGA winner Y.E. Yang. They started well and carded three-under par rounds of 68.

Open champion Louis Oosthuizen put up a two-under par 69 and was in a group with the resurgent Sergio Garcia, Byron Nelson runnerup Ryan Palmer, Scott Hend of Australia, Alex Rocha of Brazil and Korean Kyung-tae Kim.

Defending champion Graeme McDowell sent a message that he will be in the mix again with an opening round of 70. "I played smart golf. I played well off the tee. I felt great on the golf course Monday and I felt good out there today."

McDowell was one of a dozen players at one-under par and Robert Rock was among them. Rock may have put on the best performance of any player in the field, McIlroy included. Rock had huge problems getting a U.S. visa and didn't arrive until 3:30 a.m. He had never seen the golf course before yet managed to shoot under par in his first U.S. Open.

A lot of big-name stars were not as fortunate.

The world's top three players -- Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer -- were paired together and they fell flat on their faces. Donald,who started his day with a pair of birdies, fell apart after that and finished with a three-over par round of 74 as did Kaymer. Westwood found no magic during his round and shot 75.

K.J. Choi, the Players champion, soared to a 77. Steve Stricker, the highest ranked American (fourth) shot 75 as did Nick Watney. Jim Furyk joined Mickelson with a 74 while former U.S. Open champ Lucas Glover shot 76.

For Mickelson and any other player shooting more than one-over, it was bad news.

In the past decade, no U.S. Open winner has opened with a score higher than one-over par.

 

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