Rocky start at Pebble

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. – The top two players in the world couldn’t come up with a single birdie between them Thursday in the opening round of the U.S. Open at the sun-drenched Pebble Beach Golf Links.

But while Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson struggled to make putts, birdies were no problem for Shaun Micheel (No. 200 in the world) and Brandon De Jonge (No. 169), who joined Paul Casey (No. 9) in a tie for the lead after the opening 18.

Playing in the afternoon, when the course was firmer and faster, the three pacesetters each carded 2-under-par rounds of 69. Micheel and Casey birdied the 18th hole to share the top spot, while De Jonge got there with the help of a pitch that fell for an eagle at the par-5 14th.

Meanwhile, Woods, seeking a record-tying fourth Open triumph, and Mickelson, vying for his first after five times as a runner-up, couldn’t seem to figure out the poa annua greens in the five-plus hours they spent around Pebble Beach.

Woods hit his first 10 greens in regulation and 12 overall, but managed just a 74.

Mickelson, who reached 11 greens with his approach shots, hit in closer than Woods overall but wound up with a 75.

“It is what it is,” Woods said. “No one is making a lot of putts out there. No one is going low. You just can’t make putts out there. Well, at least the afternoon guys can’t. The morning guys have a chance. The greens are smoother in the morning.”

A frustrated Mickelson, who played in the morning, called his putting “horrific.”

“I usually find a way to make some birdies, but this was tough,” he said. “But I had a number of chances. There were a number of birdie holes out there, and I had my opportunities. I just didn’t make the putt.”

That wasn’t a problem for the three leaders, who combined for 13 birdies, five by Micheel and four each by Casey and De Jonge.

Only nine players finished under par. Six shared a spot one stroke behind the leaders, including 2003 Masters champion Mike Weir, K.J. Choi, Ian Poulter, and 18-year-old Japanese sensation Ryo Ishikawa, who was decked out in pink while playing with 60-year-old Tom Watson.

West Chester’s Sean O’Hair shot a disappointing 76, finishing with bogeys on 16, 17, and 18.

Mickelson’s toughest stretch turned out to be the final three holes on his first nine, consecutive bogeys at 16, 17, and 18, where his second shot at the picturesque 18th kicked off the sea wall and into Carmel Bay.

“I thought going without any doubles was good,” he said. “It’s just I’ve got to make birdies. And when I missed those 5-footers and that 3-footer and a couple of 10-footers, it was just very frustrating for me.

It didn’t seem that way for Micheel, whose lone career victory is the 2003 PGA Championship.

He needed just 22 putts, the last one a 25-footer that dropped for birdie at 18, though he hit just seven greens.

“I managed myself very well,” the 41-year-old Memphis resident said. “If you ask anybody that’s playing, underneath the hole is where you need to play, and that’s what I did. I took my medicine a lot of times.”

Micheel is playing with a heavy heart. His mother has cancer, and he dedicated last week’s St. Jude Classic in Memphis to her. He tied for fourth.

“I’m trying to play for her,” he said. “It’s about her. I love my mom, and she’s hanging in there.”