Mickelson struggles; Molinari, Toms, Kjeldsen take the lead at US Open

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Birdies hard to find, as Pebble takes a bite

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Mike Weir popped the ball out of the tangled rough, watched it hit the green and fall in the hole for a birdie on No. 16 and sole possession of the U.S. Open lead.

Too bad momentum at Pebble Beach on Thursday lasted about as long as it took to get to the next tee box.

The 2003 Masters champion followed his great shot with a bogey-bogey finish to wind up at 1-under 70. He is tied for the lead with K.J. Choi and Rafael Cabrera-Bello after a good opening round.

The sun was shining on one of America’s great courses, but with that sun came wind. That led to the specter of dry, unreceptive greens waiting for Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Tom Watson and the rest with afternoon tee times.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The trees, the rough, the rocks, the sand: Phil Mickelson found them all Thursday, as the problems and possibilities of Pebble Beach greeted him and many others on a sunny, breezy start to the U.S. Open.

Mike Weir and K.J. Choi shared the lead at 2-under par with a couple of holes left in their opening rounds, while Mickelson blew up to a 4 over through 15 holes after hitting two balls onto the beach as part of a stretch of three straight bogeys.

Mickelson wasn’t alone. Padraig Harrington briefly got under par, but gave back four strokes. Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen held a two-shot lead early at 3 under but had fallen back to par. Sweden’s Robert Karlsson was briefly at 2 under, but hit a chip up to the eighth green that reached the crest of the hill and rolled back, only a few paces from where he started. He made bogey there, then lost another stroke to drop to even par.

Rafael Cabrera-Bello posted a 1-under 70 to come in as an early clubhouse leader. Ian Poulter and David Toms were also at 1 under with a few holes left in their rounds, meaning there was a grand total of five players in the red with half the field close to wrapping up the morning rounds.

“I don’t believe I should have shot over par,” Mickelson said. “I putted horrific. You’re going to make some bogeys, going to hit a couple of bad shots here and there. But I gave myself plenty of opportunities and just couldn’t get the ball in the hole.”

All the typical U.S. Open troubles came thanks to sunny skies, temperatures around 60 and a steady breeze from the north — conditions that threatened to make Pebble Beach brittle. Trying to prevent an opening-day debacle at one of America’s most beautiful courses, the USGA sent workers out early Thursday for a final, pre-round spraydown in hopes of keeping things from drying out too much.

Mickelson, in search of the second leg of the 2010 Grand Slam, spent most of his round in trouble.

He hit long and left onto the beach on No. l7 and had to take a drop en route to bogey. Then, after tucking his tee shot behind the two trees on the right side of the 18th fairway, he tried to draw a shot between them and toward the green. It didn’t work enough and instead drifted into the hazard and hit the top of the rocky beach wall before ricocheting far out into the Pacific Ocean. He made his third straight bogey there to reach the turn at 3-over par.

From there, things didn’t get much better.

On No. 4, Mickelson left his second shot in the bunker, then absent-mindedly smoothed out his footprints and had to check things out with a rules official to be sure he wouldn’t get penalized for improving his stance in a bunker. No penalty there, but he still made bogey. Then, on the par-5 sixth, he missed a 4-foot birdie putt.

Weir chipped in on No. 16 to get to 3 under, but found that momentum on this difficult day at Pebble lasted about as long as the walk to the next tee box. He fanned his tee shot on 17 en route to a bogey that pushed him back a stroke, and into a tie for the lead with Choi, who had made six birdies, two bogeys and a double through 16 holes.

Ten years ago, the last time the U.S. Open was at Pebble Beach, Woods destroyed the course and the competition, shooting a record 12-under par to win by a record 15 strokes.

His game, and life, have changed drastically since then. The course he’s playing this week has only been lengthened 194 yards, to 7,040, the shortest U.S. Open layout in seven years. But it has undergone other subtle alterations designed to keep the teeth in one of golf’s great layouts.

Most notably, fairways on the seaside holes have been closely mowed right up to the hazard lines, increasing the possibility of an errant drive or approach dropping off into one of the world’s biggest water hazards — the Pacific Ocean.