U.S. Open 2013 leaderboard: Phil Mickelson drops to 2-over, Hunter Mahan leads

The final round of the U.S. Open is off to a slow start as many of the leaders have given strokes back in the early going. Phil Mickelson dropped out of the lead with his second double bogey of the round and Hunter Mahan is currently alone in first.

Mickelson initially dropped out of the lead with a double bogey on the long Par-3 third hole. After his tee shot found the deep rough, he was unable to get his chip close and went on to three-putt for his first double bogey of the tournament. That dropped Mickelson to 1-over, but he got a stroke back at No. 4 thanks to an excellent second shot. Mickelson drove the green in two and made a run at an eagle before tapping in for a birdie. However, he ran into trouble again on No. 5, carding his second double bogey of the round, dropping him to 2-over.

While Mickelson and the most other leaders struggle to avoid dropped shots, Mahan has been steady through five holes. Carding a par on his first five holes, he’s successfully avoided trouble thus far. Mahan nearly lost a stroke on No. 5, but was able to sink his par putt to remain even.

Luke Donald and Steve Stricker have run into even more issues. Donald is 3-over through five holes and now four strokes off the lead. Stricker is 5-over through five holes and one stroke behind Donald. Jason Dufner began the round nine strokes off the lead but shot up the leaderboard with five birdies over his first 13 holes. Dufner, however, fell back off the lead with a triple bogey at No. 15.

Here is a snapshot of the leaderboard.

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