• US Open, Round One

McIlroy powers ahead at US Open

Rory McIlroy delivered a lesson in driving on hte opening 18 holes © Getty Images

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• Gallery: US Open, Round One

ESPN will be providing live commentary during all four days of the US Open from Congressional CC - along with all the news, views and opinion when it gets underway on Thursday

Day One gallery
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Day One What They Said

Rory McIlroy shrugged off his Augusta woes with a stunning opening round of 65 to take the lead at the US Open.

The Ulsterman wilted under pressure in the final round of the Masters, but bounced back in fabulous fashion with a golfing masterclass to storm into a three-shot lead. McIlroy put his playing partners Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in the shade to set the pace in Washington.

While Mickelson was visiting all areas of Congressional, McIlroy was calmness personified. The Ulsterman was brilliant for three rounds at the Masters before imploding on Sunday. Questions were asked about how he would react in the next major and judged on this effort, he has learned plenty.

His driving was superb, iron play excellent and importantly, his putting assured. If he had putted with any authority for the first three rounds at the Masters, his implosion on Sunday would not have mattered as he would have been so far clear of the field.

There was no sign of implosion in his opening 18 holes at Congressional as he plotted his way round superbly. The majority of the early starters walked off the course stressing the importance of keeping the ball on the fairway. McIlroy had clearly been listening as time and again he found the short stuff, affording him the luxury of firing at the pins. And in doing that he gave himself enough chances to make birdies. The putting stroke looked assured and he drained six birdies to throw down the gauntlet.

Mickelson set the tone for his round with his opening swing of the club. Having marched onto the 10th tee to a roar of approval, he dumped his shot in the water at the front of the green and left the hole with a double-bogey. The left hander barely saw a fairway for nine holes so bad was his play off the tee, but he somehow turned at two-over. A fine birdie at 11 appeared set to build momentum but yet another errant tee shot on 12 cost him a shot. Time and again he scrambled but even he could not get the job done as a bogey on 17 saw him sign for a three-over 74.

The top three in the world found Congressional Country Club bearing its teeth on the opening day, as Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer all posted over-par rounds.

The top three in the world did not enjoy their opening round at the US Open © Getty Images

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World No. 1 Donald fared poorly, signing for a 74 after making a rapid birdie-birdie start. Donald rose to the top spot in golf on the back of stellar all-round play, but his normally reliable driver let him down. He hit just three of seven fairways going out - all this after going within four feet of holing in one on his first hole - the 10th.

A second birdie followed immediately to suggest Donald could go low at Congressional but a string of bogeys - and a double-bogey on his 9th (the 18th) sent him spiralling down the leaderboard.

A superb putt for birdie on his 10th allowed Donald to get some momentum heading for home. Donald has a short game that is the envy of the majority of players on tour, but his 16th made a fool out of him. Standing on the tee at three-over, Donald felt the need to attack and flew over the back. He failed to get his chip out of the rough and it cost him a further bogey. A classy birdie on the 17th steadied the ship and allowed him to keep within hailing distance of the leaders.

Westwood, viewed as the best player in the world from tee to green, found his radar awry as he struggled to hit fairways. He scrambled round to be level after eight but a shocking tee shot on the 18th - his 9th - cost him a shot and after a fine birdie two at 11, more wayward play cost him shots at 12, 13 and 18. It all left the Englishman back on four-over - one behind Donald.

Kaymer's form has been patchy of late and he found things tough. The US PGA champion started positively with a birdie. But he bogeyed three more holes going out and it got no better for the German coming home. Red numbers at 11 and 12 and 18 saw the world No. 3 post a three-over 74.

Curtis Strange was the last player to defend the US Open title back in 1989, but Graeme McDowell has made a fine start in his bid with a rock-solid round of 70. While players mixed birdies and bogeys at regular intervals, the Ulsterman posted just one bogey - at the first. Birdies at two and six moved him to one-under and encouragingly for McDowell he struck the ball superbly and had the pace of the greens nailed down.

Open champion Louis Oosthuizen played alongside McDowell and he went one shot better, as an up and down round resulted in him moving to two-under.

YE Yang knows what it takes to win a major, having hunted down Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship of 2009, and he made a superb start to his tournament with a 68 to take the early clubhouse lead at three-under - before McIlroy put him in the shade.

Charles Schwartzel is the only man who can do the grand slam this year and the Masters champion remains in the hunt, having worked his way back into the tournament with a string of birdies to sign for a three-under 68.

Sergio Garcia only found his way into the tournament after going through qualifying and he has made a bright start to his challenge. Putting has so often been the problem for the Spaniard, but he found his touch on the greens - highlighted by a stunning 40-footer on 11 - aside from one blemish on the last to post a two-under 69.

Bubba Watson was three-under at one stage but a bogey, bogey, bogey finish - which followed four straight birdies - left him at even-par.

Padraig Harrington's form has been patchy for some time and he produced a mixed bag, but excellent iron play enabled the two-time Open champion to sign for a level-par 71.

Paul Casey progressed nicely for 17 holes, but found deep rough on the 18th and in trying to muscle the ball to the green the club turned over and he found water - which resulted in him signing for a 73.

Meanwhile, Robert Rock overcame visa complications to arrive at his hotel at 3:30am on the morning of the opening round. With no practice rounds at Congressional behind him, the Englishman fired a respectable one-under to sit tied in tenth spot with a clutch of other players. After reportedly spending £15,000 in legal fees to resolve his visa issue, the recent Italian Open winner is no doubt looking forward to a smoother day two.

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