Mickelson lands lead as Merion proves real test
Despite receiving six inches of rain in the build-up and another early morning hammering that led to a three hour and 32 minute suspension, the sub-7,000 yard track proved to be more than a match for the modern superstars.
Mickelson, who only flew in at 4.30am for his 7.11 am tee time having gone home to San Diego for his daughter’s eighth grade graduation, fired four birdies and just one bogey in a three under 67 to take the early lead by three strokes in the clubhouse from South African pair Charl Schwartzel and Tim Clark and American Jerry Kelly.
“We were having a hard time scoring low here,” said Mickelson, who has a record five runner-up finishes in the US Open but no wins. “It’s so demanding. It’s such a great track. It’s one of the best I’ve seen for a US Open. And we had soft conditions and still we’re all having a hard time getting under par.”
Pádraig Harrington did well to shoot a three over par 73, finishing with a birdie at his final hole, having slipped to four over after just eight holes of his stop-start opening round.
The Dubliner’s worst fears about Merion were realised when he dropped three shots at the 17th and 18th to head into the last 10 holes on four over par.
But it could have been so much worse had his short game not come to the rescue early in the round.
Merion was warm and close as the popular 41-year old received the biggest ovation as he joined Sergio Garcia and former British Open champion Stewart Cink on the 11th tee.
He found the left centre of the fairway with a three wood but came up 25 feet short and after watching Garcia three putt, he had to hole a nasty four-footer for his par after charging his birdie chance at the back pin.
He was again forced to grind for his par on the 403-yard 12th where his approach with a wedge to a front pin landed three feet from the stick and sucked back off the green and down a steep slope.
A brilliant pitch to two feet saved him there but he was furious with himself when he bogeyed the 103-yard 13th.
Caught between clubs, he pulled his tee shot into the back bunker and while he used a backstop behind the front right pin to feed the ball back towards the hole, he left himself three feet above the cup and horseshoed out for par.
He only got to hit one more shot before the hooter sounded but it was a hook into the rough on the left of the dangerous 14th.
Thunder rolled overhead at 8.35am when the players headed for the clubhouse. And soon the heavens opened, dumping more rain on golf course that had already received six inches of rain since Friday.
The delay lasted three hours and 32 minutes and it brought some spectacular rainfall and rolling thunder to match some of the early scoring on a course that proved more than capable of standing up for itself in the end
Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson and Nicolas Colsaerts got the farthest into the round, playing seven holes before the hooter sounded.
Belgian bomber Colsaerts got to two under and with a shot of early pacesetter Ian Poulter, who started with three birdies in a row before play was suspended.
When Harrington came back out, he hacked out short of the green and hit a spectacular pitch to three feet to save par.
Garcia had hooked out of bounds there to take six and repeated the trick at the 15th, eventually racking up a quadruple bogey eight.
Harrington played the 15th perfectly, narrowly missing from 25 feet for birdie. But his problems began when he missed the 16th to the left with a fairway wood.
Taking a hybrid for his second, he bounded through the back but managed to chip close and save par.
But his round became a struggle at the 243-yard 17th, where 5,500 fans packed into the grandstand gave a collective “ooohhh” of despair as his tee shot plugged in the face of a cavernous bunker just 20 feet left of the pin.
Unable to get a proper stance, Harrington stood with his left foot out of the sand but could only pop the ball out into the deep rough on top of the bunker. He eventually chipped and putted for a disconcerting double bogey five to go three over for his round.
A bogey followed at the tough 18th, where he missed the fairway right and only managed to move his attempt second with a wood some 12 feet.
But again his short game came to the rescue and he managed to limit the damage to a bogey with a fine chip and putt from around 15 yards short of the green.
The rest of the round was a battle to claw back shots and while he birdied the par-four seventh, he handed that shot back at the 360-yard eighth.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
