Montgomerie Leads U.S. Open After First Round
Colin Montgomerie shot a a 1-under 69 and was the only player to break par on the first day of the U.S. Open being played at Winged Foot and leads a group of 5 that shot even par. Phil Mickelson is in the group at even par and is very content with his even par round. Not suprisingly, Tiger Woods struggled and shot a 6-over 76 and finds himself 7 back heading into day 2. While 7 shots is not an impossible deficit to overcome, this IS the U.S. Open and assuming a score around even par wins on Sunday, Tiger would have to average 2.5 strokes under par just to shoot even for the tournament.
Mickelson is in excellent position only one stroke back but is fortunate it wasn’t worse, given he hit fewer greens than Woods. However, his preparation coming in with Dave Pelz and Rick Smith is already paying dividends as he’s taking his medicine when hits in the rough and doesn’t try to hit the miracle shot.