• US Open: Plays of the Day

Ron Burgundy quote inspires Mickelson despite rain

Under cover was the best place to be for parts of Thursday © AP

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Mickelson's perfect planning

Fly in 90 minutes before your tee-time, nap during the rain delay, then shoot 67 to lead the tournament by two shots.

That was Phil Mickelson's plan, and it played out to perfection.

"Yeah, it might be abnormal, but it actually worked out really well," said Mickelson. "I got all my work done at Merion when I was here a week and a half ago. I knew exactly how I wanted to play the golf course, given the conditions, given different wind conditions, clubs I was going to be hitting, where I was going to be and the shots I was going to have.

"So I didn't feel I needed more time at Merion. What I needed was to get my game sharp, to get my touch sharp. And having a nice practice facility and nice weather for the last couple of days allowed me to do that. So it worked out great on both ends."

A word of warning, however. The only other time Mickelson has made a better start in a US Open - back in 1992 - he went on to miss the cut. So...

Rain a pain at Merion

The real leader on the opening day of the US Open was … the rain.

With players into full swing at Merion, play was halted for three hours and 34 minutes as lightning, strong winds and rain made an appearance to the tournament.

Then, like a bad movie sequel, it returned late in the afternoon - forcing a second suspension of play at 6.10pm, one that ruined any hopes the United States Golf Association had of getting the vast majority of - if not all - the first round completed.

Given the terrible weather over the past week making playing conditions soft, a day like today was the last thing organisers, players, and the course needed.

Picking fights

Think Tiger Woods' friendship with Rory McIlroy is all a PR exercise, designed to help both men sell Nike equipment? Think again (although this could really just be some mild bullying):

Tiger Woods picking on Rory McIlroy during the U.S Open Champions Dinner last night (h/t @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/6gHil7VhT4

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 13, 2013

Phonetically speaking

If you wanted to know how the American commentators get the correct pronunciations for the names of the many international players in the field this week, then a handy guide called 'Player Phonetics' given out in the media centre will quickly lead you to the answer.

That's how broadcasters know George Coetzee's name is pronounced 'George Could-sear', for example, or that Darren Clarke's is apparently pronounced 'Darr-en Clark'..(Is that really any different to how it reads?!)

Some names are a bit tougher than others. Guess these, if you will:

'ON-hel cub-BRARE-uh'

'SHAR-ull SHWORTZ-ull'

Yes, you are correct - they are indeed former Masters champions Angel Cabrera and Charl Schwartzel.

US players' home towns are also listed. Thankfully, no one should now make mistakes talking about Chris Williams' hometown of Moscow, Idaho … sorry, 'MOSS-ko', Idaho.

Quote us happy

"She did a great job and she even quoted Ron Burgundy, so it was funny."

That was Phil Mickelson, talking about his daughter's high school graduation speech. Now we REALLY want to know which quote young Amanda opted for. Possible contenders:

"Ladies and gentlemen, can I please have your attention. I've just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I need all of you, to stop what you're doing and listen ... Cannonball!"

"Hey everyone, come see how good I look!"

So many possibilities. I guess we'll never know...

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