Golf: Donald Holds the Advantage

On a day when one Englishman lost his rag over a "perfect" putt which bounced out of an imperfectly cut hole, two of his Ryder Cup colleagues and a pair of American journeymen had the composure to seize a place on the leaderboard after the opening day of the US Open here in North Carolina.

Lee Westwood and Luke Donald start today's second round at Pinehurst within touching distance of the early clubhouse leaders, the unsung Americans Olin Browne and Rocco Mediate, who both shot three-under-par 67s to set the standard before some of the big guns made their run at sub-par scores.

Browne made it into this field only because he failed in an attempt to withdraw from this week's qualifying event. He explained: "I shot 73 in the first round [and] didn't think I had a chance but couldn't find an official to tell me how to pull out. The next day I shot 59 and, hey, I'm here."

There is a moral there somewhere, though the 46-year-old was content to enjoy his moment in the spotlight without analysing what it might mean. He accepts he will not be leading come Sunday night.

The same could be not be said of Westwood, who returned a two-under 68, and Donald, who needed one more shot to negotiate a typical US Open course which just about stayed on the right side of fair.

Donald admitted: "I felt like the course was a little bit more playable today than it was earlier in the week. They cut the rough and the greens were soft. I think I could have shot a 66 or a 67, I was playing that well."

If that sounded uncharacteristically immodest of the young Englishman, it could be because it came after his victory in what was billed as the Clark Kent v Superman match: Tiger Woods, his playing partner, managed only a level-par 70.

"I am happy," the world No1 said, however. "Any time you shoot level par in the first round of the US Open you feel really good. Four of those and I'll have a real good chance."

Westwood also enjoyed a small personal triumph, putting together a well-nigh flawless round despite waking up with a cold. To shoot four birdies on a day that called for patience and self-discipline as much as skill, would have been a fine effort in any circumstances. To do it while sounding like Tom Waits with bronchitis was outstanding. "Fortunately," he said, "you don't need your voice to play golf."

But you do need some luck, or at least more luck than Ian Poulter enjoyed. In one of the more bizarre incidents of recent US Opens - and there have been many - the Englishman saw a perfectly struck putt on the 1st green go straight in the middle of the cup and then bounce back out.

"The iron cup liner wasn't pushed far enough into the hole, which meant the ball hit it and then came back out," he said after shooting a seven-over 77. "It's hard enough to score well around this course without having shots added to your score for no good reason."

A tournament official was called on to the green, where he and Poulter had what diplomats might call a full and frank discussion. It ended with the Englishman banging the flag back into the hole - he described it as "robustly replacing the flag" - and stomping off to the next tee.

"Right now I am unhappy. What happens if I go out and shoot three rounds of 68 and lose the tournament by one shot? Trust me - if that happens I will be very, very, very unhappy."

The rest of the world, meanwhile, would be very, very, very shocked if Poulter won this tournament, not least because all of golf's biggest names were gathered near the top of the leaderboard as the first day drew to a close.

While Woods pronounced himself delighted with his day's work in shooting evenpar, the South African Retief Goosen might have been slightly disappointed with his two-under 68 as it could have been even better.

The pair's statistics told their own tale: Goosen hit 80% of the fairways, Woods 43%; Goosen hit 89% of the greens in regulation, Woods 66%. The American was better only on the greens, taking 30 putts to Goosen's 32.

Of the later starters, both Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh confirmed that they have the game to win a title that has eluded them so far. Mickelson was two-under as his round drew to a close, with the Fijian one shot further back as the little-known American Brandt Jobe charged to four under after 14 holes

Meanwhile, at the other end of the field, England's Paul Casey endured a torturous journey round Pinehurst's fairways, shooting a 15-over 85, the worst round of the day by two strokes