Nick Dougherty says U.S. Open course "easy"

Nick Dougherty is exuding confidence after his exemplary two-under-par first round at the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont.

“I expected to play well this week. I expected to think about my round or think about my game and have the right attitude to it, which I’ve achieved today and hopefully will do for the rest of the week,” stated a cheerful Dougherty after “complaining” that even though he scored well, “I didn’t actually play that well tee-to-green, but obviously I was hitting it in the right places when I missed.”

Dougherty teed off in the morning after a rainstorm so the greens were much softer than they were for the afternoon golfers. Mickelson battled through the afternoon, struggling with his wrist injury but quickly removing his injured hand from the club as soon as the face hit the rough (yes, Phil found the deep stuff). Vijay’s ankle injury was brushed off as Singh (+1) finished with the same score as the number one golfer on the PGA Tour.

Tiger Woods performed admirably, with pars on the final three holes which could have been blow-ups but which Woods kept under control. Tiger’s strategy? To play conservatively, because “that’s how you normally play U.S. Opens, you don’t play it aggressively.”

What can viewers expect to see at subsequent rounds of the U.S. Open? Tougher pin positions and lightning fast greens. The player who scrambles the best, keeps the ball in the fairway and has the hottest putter will survive.