2011 U.S. Open Underway: Rory McIlroy Takes Over Lead, Phil Mickelson Struggling

In his first major tournament since the blowup at Augusta in the final round of The Masters, Rory McIlroy is back at the top of the leaderboard after firing a first round 65 in the 2011 US Open. McIlroy had a superb day, and had a legitimate chance to tie or best the low-round in a major, currently set at 63. Instead, the young Irishman settled for 65 after a few putts failed to drop, though his 6-under score left him three shots clear of the field.

Stalking McIlroy is a name that should be familiar: Charl Schwartzel. It’s The Masters all over again, at least in the early-goings of the US Open. Schwartzel was able to take advantage of McIlroy’s disastrous final round at Augusta to win the green jacket earlier this year. Y.E. Yang is also three shots back after a first round 68.

The opening round of the 2011 US Open is in the books, with Rory McIlroy matching his strong back nine with an equally bogey-free front nine. He’s taken a 6-under score into the clubhouse at Congressional, putting him three strokes up on the leaderboard’s second-place players, Y.E. Yang and Charl Schwartzel.

Masters winner Schwartzel was quiet other than a run of three birdies on holes five through seven, putting him one stroke ahead of countryman Louis Oosthuizen and a crowd that includes Sergio Garcia and one-time leader Ryan Palmer. Among the pileup at 1-under are defending champion Graeme McDowell, Stewart Cink, Chez Reavie and Davis Love III.

Y.E. Yang has the best score among all players already in the Congressional clubhouse, but Rory McIlroy has taken over as the 2011 U.S. Open’s leader. The Northern Irish player has made a habit of starting majors out strong, having held the lead at the Masters up until the final round. He sits at 5-under through 13 holes, two strokes better than Yang and Sergio Garcia, who’s also through 13.

McIlroy started on the back nine, which is considered to be the more challenging nine. He was able to birdie two of his first four holes on the front nine and could finish with some decent distance on the rest of the field.

While established players like Phil Mickelson struggle at the 2011 U.S. Open, former major champions, upstarts, and marginal players are ruling the day at Congressional Golf Club. The torrid starts of Francesco Molinari and Rory Sabbatini are just the latest bit of evidence that the wide-open Open field might make for an unexpected champion.

Molinari and Sabbatini both raced out to 3-under starts in their late afternoon front nines: Molinari was 3-under after four holes, but has since fallen back to 2-under after a bogey on the seventh; Sabbatini, who began his first round on the back nine, made birdie on the 12th, 13th, and 14th, and remains at 3-under through five holes.

Phil Mickelson is the biggest name at the 2011 U.S. Open. But if his first few holes on Thursday at Congressional Golf Club are any indication, he might not be around for the weekend.

Mickelson is 2-over through five holes, and needed a birdie to even get to that number. A disastrous double bogey to begin his round on the par 3 10th hole put him in a hole of his own, and his birdie on the 12th was swiftly cancelled by a bogey on the 14th.

Y.E. Yang hasn’t done much on the PGA Tour since his titanic upset of Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship. If Yang plays his next three rounds at the 2011 U.S. Open like he did his first at Congressional Golf Club in Maryland, that could change in a hurry.

Yang fired a 3-under 68 to head into the clubhouse with the lead early in the first day of the 2011 U.S. Open, and to tie Ryan Palmer, still on the course at 3-under through 15 holes, for the tournament’s overall lead. Yang’s first round took some late rallying, too: he closed with two birdies in his last four holes, recovering from an even-par back nine with three birdies and no bogeys on the front nine.

With light rain falling, the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional Golf Club in Maryland is off to a slow start. But Ryan Palmer’s hot, and looking to make up for past Open failure.

Palmer is 3-under through 11 holes, and leads the massive U.S. Open field after having missed the cut in each of his past two U.S. Open starts. In fact, Palmer’s been miserable in majors, missing the cut in four of the eight that he’s qualified for since 1998. But he did take 10th in the 2011 Masters, and that may be a good omen for this week’s task at Congressional. Palmer has made three birdies and no bogeys in his first round so far.