• US Open: What They Said

Phil comfortable with gameplan, Garcia ignores hecklers

Merion was quickly cleared up after a morning weather delay © AP

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The early clubhouse lead was taken by Phil Mickelson, who only arrived in the state about three hours before his Thursday morning tee-time. Having attended his daughter's graduation, Mickelson never had any concerns about his preparation for the US Open.

"It might be abnormal, but it actually worked out really well," he said. "I got all my work done on Merion last 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 that 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."

Sergio Garcia was the another notable player on Thursday morning, enduring an up-and-down round as he was increasingly heckled - perhaps by fans having had a bit too much to drink - as holes went by. The Spaniard declined to criticise the galleries, however, saying he was "happy" with the reception he got.

"No, I think there were a couple [of comments] here and there, but I felt the people were very nice for the whole day. I think that they almost all of them were behind me and that was nice to see."

Ian Poulter held the lead for about four hours on Thursday - sitting pretty at three-under during the rain delay. But he eventually had to settle for a one-over par round of 71. Nevertheless, he was content, saying: "It's disappointing after obviously being three‑under through three, but it's fine. It's well positioned. I'm sure there's a lot of guys that have played themselves out of this golf tournament after one round and I haven't done that."

Keegan Bradley started with a disappointing 77, but was impressed by playing partner Mickelson's scrambling. He said: "I didn't play that bad. You just get penalized if you miss the fairways. "He [Mickelson] has had a crazy last 24 hours. Sometimes that helps, not thinking about it. He's going to get rest and he'll be in great shape."

Nicolas Colsaerts was one of the few players to complete an under-par round, shooting 69. He said: "I don't think I've really peaked anytime during the season. It's not very far off, but when you get to play courses that are pretty demanding, you know, anything can happen, just as is proven today, really.

"It is cool, especially on big tournaments like this, to play well. Being paired with two very good players, as well. Yeah, it feels good to play good on a big stage like this."

Bubba Watson, who played alongside Colsaerts and was only two shots worse off, expects Merion to have the upper hand by the end of the week: "There's a couple of guys under par. By the end of the week Merion is going to win."

Charl Schwartzel, who played 'Angry Birds' during the three-hour rain delay, shot level-par 70 to be one of the few players not on the wrong side of par at the end of the day. He said: "I never thought there was going to be a lot of birdies. Even the practice rounds, it's tough. Everyone was talking about the length of it, it's short. But the holes that are short, you're hitting five-irons on the tee. There's nothing short about it."

Rickie Fowler finished with the same score, although he was not quite as content: "I made a few mistakes out there. I actually made some good putts coming in, so a little up-and-down. Hopefully be able to get rid of a few of the mistakes I made. I missed a couple greens where I shouldn't have, missed a couple short putts. But other than that salvaged a pretty good round out there today."

Justin Rose looked like playing his way out of the event at one point, but bounced back to finish one-over. He said: "I've got very clear goals this week. They revolve around four thoughts and anything else other than that is going to not help me play well. So I stayed in those, that framework all around and stayed patient and got my reward at the end. There's a long, hard week ahead, but not the greatest start. But certainly it's a B plus."

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