Ogilvy putting up good defence

Geoff Ogilvy had no complaints about a one-over-par 71 in the opening round of the US Open today.

The defending champion showed he was not ready to concede his title without a fight, making the most of his opportunities to trail early clubhouse leader Nick Dougherty by three strokes.

“I’m pretty happy,” said the 30-year-old Australian, who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Three more rounds like that, I don’t think I’ll be far away.

“If you’d given me one over on the first tee I probably would have taken it.

“I would prefer not to have bogeyed the last but that’s the hardest hole I’ve ever seen. The fairway is almost unhittable.”

Ogilvy, who played with Tiger Woods and Richie Ramsay in the traditional threesome which brings together the US Open, British Open and US Amateur champions, was out of sync with his driver and three-wood, but managed his game well.

“I don’t think I hit a fairway with a wood today, but there’s lots of irons out there for me,” he added.

“Every time I was in the rough I made it look hard, but every time I was on the fairway I hit it pretty close to the hole.

“It was easier to hit it close to the hole this morning than I expected. The pins were a bit easier than they could be and the greens softer.”

A brief but violent storm that dumped about half an inch of rain (and hail) on the course on Wednesday night left Oakmont as vulnerable as it will be all week, as long as the weather stays dry.

“As long as it doesn’t rain, it’s going to get harder every day,” Ogilvy added.

“If you keep it in the fairway and on the right side of the greens, you’ve got every chance.”