GOLF/US Open:The fear, each year, is that the USGA will unleash a beast to inflict pain and misery on the world's best golfers. At least, that is the intention. Yesterday, though, the revered and feared Oakmont course was like a lion without teeth, deprived of its fearsome bite for the first round of the 107th US Open by Mother Nature's thunderstorm on Wednesday night that had the effect of softening the fairways and making the greens more receptive, writes Philip Reidat Oakmont
And while many of the usual suspects including Tiger Woods manoeuvred into position, and Phil Mickelson - wrist brace and all - managed to get around without inflicting any further damage to his injury, the upshot of the rather more benign than expected conditions was that a number of unlikely lads managed to steal much of the first round's thunder.
No one roared as loudly yesterday as Nick Dougherty, an Englishman who has tamed his party animal reputation to focus more on his golf. Dougherty - who earned a place in the field via the International Qualifier at Walton Heath last week - shot a 68, two-under, to assume the clubhouse lead and start to realise dreams that first appeared as a highly talented teenager when he was taken under his wing by Nick Faldo.
If Faldo discovered the art of winning majors, his prodigy has taken his time to find his feet. His infrequent appearances in the majors have usually ended almost as soon as they've started: in five previous outings, Dougherty had failed to survive the cut on four occasions. And the one time he did make it into the weekend, the 25-year-old from Liverpool could only manage a tied-52nd place finish, in the 2005 US Open at Pinehurst.
Dougherty's form on the European Tour has promised more than it has delivered. On no fewer than six occasions in the 14 tournaments he has played, Dougherty has led at some juncture of the tournament; but has failed to win any. "I haven't finished one off, which has been extremely disappointing . . . but I've been looking forward to this, getting the chance to play in a major when I'm on my game, which I am at the moment," he said.
Certainly, Dougherty's putter was sufficiently hot in yesterday's first round to compensate for weaker elements of his game. While he only hit eight of 14 fairways - for a strike-rate of 57 per cent - Dougherty more than made amends in a round that saw him use only 27 putts and avoiding any three-putts.
Dougherty has never been short on confidence in himself, even when times on tour have been tough. The boost of yesterday's strong opening round had that self-belief at an all-time high. "I believe I'm a good enough golfer to contend in majors, whether it is now or this year or further down the line. Hopefully, if I can cling on for the next 54 holes, I'll do it," he said. He added: "I'm still working on bits and bobs with my game, but my confidence is high. I look to Tiger. He is the one who shows it best. When he is not playing well, he has such self-belief in himself that he turns a 76 into a 71 or a 72. That's what happens when your confidence is up."
On a day when the sun struggled to break through, only managing to do so in the late afternoon, players made the most of the unexpectedly benign course. Almost half an inch of rain doused the course in less than half-an-hour in Wednesday night's thunderstorm, the upshot being that the greens' speeds were significantly slower than they had been throughout the practice rounds.
Still, not everyone managed to avoid the course's ability to bite. Perhaps the biggest victim was Sergio Garcia, who incurred two double-bogeys on the way to a 79, while US Masters champion Zach Johnson, after a steady start, fell to an opening 76. He wasn't alone.
Colin Montgomerie, who lost a play-off when the championship was last stage here in 1994, and two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen also struggled to 76s.
But defending champion Geoff Ogivly, of Australia, opened with a solid 71.
Woods, too, opened with a 71 that has him nicely positioned to pounce over the next three rounds. "On this golf course," he said of his first round score, "it is fine, it is right there. You know if you shoot even just three, four, five-over par, you're still in the tournament and you've got to hang in there. You know that you're going to get some bad breaks and some good ones and go along with it. If you make a mistake, you accept the ramifications and get on with it."
In mixing four bogeys with three birdies, Woods at least contrived to get into a position from which to launch his attack. He also had some praise for the USGA's setting up of the course, which included putting pin placements in the more accessible areas of the greens.
And, yet, despite the course being more benign than any of the players could have hoped for, no one managed to take it apart. Dougherty, though, will only have to look at those in pursuit to realise that the really hard part of his task has yet to come.
