Notebook, Round 1: U.S. Open

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PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. -- Shaun Micheel, Paul Casey and Brendon de Jonge posted 2-under 69s on Thursday to share the first-round lead at the 110 th U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links. Mike Weir, K.J. Choi, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Ian Poulter, Alex Cejka and Ryo Ishikawa are one stroke behind.

Micheel has now led after the first round five times in his PGA TOUR career, but never outright. The others came at the 2001 National Car at Disney (finished T59), 2002 B.C. Open (T3), 2004 Nissan Open (T24) and the 2005 84 LUMBER Classic (T42).

Casey has now led four times after the first round on the PGA TOUR, but also never in outright fashion. The others came at the 2004 British Open (T20), 2007 Arnold Palmer Invitational (T14) and the 2007 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (T51).

Brendon de Jonge shared the lead after 18 holes at the 2007 U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee for his only other first-round lead. He finished T28.

Micheel's 2-under 69 represents his first round in the 60s in 17 total rounds at the U.S. Open. His 69 equals his best opening round in a major championship, with the other two 69s leading to his two best finishes in a major (1st -2003 PGA Championship, 2nd -2006 PGA Championship).

Casey's 69 is his first sub-70 opening round in eight starts at the U.S. Open.

De Jonge, a 29-year-old native of Harare, Zimbabwe, is making his first career start in a major championship.

Major championship starts and best finishes among the top-9 players after the first round:

First-round leads of the previous four U.S. Opens hosted at Pebble Beach Golf Links:

2000: Tiger Woods 6-under 65 1 over Miguel-Angel Jimenez

1992: Gil Morgan 6-under 66 1 over Curtis Strange

1982: Bruce Devlin, Bill Rogers 2-under 70 Five players one shot behind

1972: Six-way tie (including Jack Nicklaus) 1-under 71 Four players one stroke back

Prior to Thursday's 4-over 75, the last time Phil Mickelson played a round in the U.S. Open without a birdie was during the opening round in 2007. He went on to miss the cut that week at Oakmont Country Club. Prior to Thursday, the last time he played a PGA TOUR event without a birdie or better was the 2009 Shell Houston Open, carding an opening-round 5-over 77.

Tiger Woods also failed to make a birdie en route to a 3-over 74. Just three times in his professional career has he failed to make a birdie or better in a major championship: 2010 U.S. Open (Round 1, 3-over 74), 2003 Masters (Round 1, 4-over 76) and the 1999 British Open (Round 3, 3-over 74). On two other occasions, he failed to make a birdie, but did card one eagle: 2008 Masters (Round 1, even-par 72) and the 2003 U.S. Open (Round 1, even-par 70).

Prior to Thursday, the last time Tiger Woods failed to make a birdie in a PGA TOUR event was the first round of the 2007 PLAYERS Championship (3-over 75).

Thursday marks the first time in their professional careers that Mickelson and Woods failed to make a birdie in a major championship on the same day.

Phil Mickelson has won 11 of his 38 PGA TOUR titles in the state of California. Just once has he gone on to win after opening with a round of 75 or higher (1993 Buick Invitational, opened with 3-over 75).

Tiger Woods has won 13 of his 64 stateside TOUR wins in California, including the 2000 and 2008 U.S. Opens. Just once has he gone on to win after opening with a round of 74 or higher (2005 Masters, opened with 2-over 74).

Woods is seeking to join Willie Anderson, Robert T. Jones Jr., Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus as four-time winners of the U.S. Open. Here's a look at his opening-round scores and eventual finishes at the U.S. Open:

Dustin Johnson, winner of the 2009 (opened with a 65) and 2010 (opened with a 64) AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, opened with an even-par 71 on Thursday.

Mike Weir has been a model of consistency at the U.S. Open, making nine cuts in 11 previous starts and recording eight top-20 finishes, including four straight (T6-2006, T20-2007, T18-2008, T10-2009). His best finishes came in back-to-back years, finishing T3 in 2003 and T4 in 2004. He finished T10 at the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, despite an opening-round 76.

Prior to this week, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (70) had never teed it up in a PGA TOUR event. He has been a member of the European Tour since 2007, posting his only victory at the 2009 Austrian Golf Open.

Ricky Barnes, a 29-year old former U.S. Amateur champion from nearby (151 miles) Stockton, has five top-10s in 16 previous starts in 2010, including a T10 at the Masters Tournament. Entering this season, Barnes had one top-10 in 47 career starts, a T2 at the 2009 U.S. Open. He opened this week with a 1-over 72.

Amateurs and University of Georgia teammates Hudson Swafford and Russell Henley opened with rounds of 76 and 73, respectively. In May, Swafford caddied for another teammate - Harris English -- en route to a T27 finish at the Nationwide Tour's Stadion Athens Classic at UGA. Swafford stood at 1-over through 17 holes during the first round at Pebble Beach, but posted a quadruple-8 on the par-4 ninth hole.

St. Jude Classic winner Lee Westwood opened with 3-over 74. He is attempting to become the first player to win on the PGA TOUR and then go on to win the U.S. Open the following week. Since 1934, only 10 players have won the week before winning a major:

*No event scheduled the week after first win. Major was the next event contested

Westwood is seeking to become the first European to win the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Since 1936, there have been 10 occasions in the United States where a major championship was contested on a course that also hosted a PGA TOUR event that same season. The 2010 U.S Open marks the sixth occasion a major championship has been held at Pebble Beach GL.

The first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win six of 24 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Lee Westwood at the St. Jude Classic.

Dating to 1959, the first-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win the U.S. Open just eight times: Tiger Woods (2000, 2002), Retief Goosen (2001), Payne Stewart (1991), Jack Nicklaus (1972, 1980), Hubert Green (1977) and Tony Jacklin (1970). In all, the first-round leader/co-leader has won 19 times.

Lucas Glover, one of nine past U.S. Open champions playing this week, opened with a 2-over 73:

Here's a list of how defending champions have fared in the first round at the U.S. Open since 1998:

The U.S. Open has been won by an amateur eight times: Francis Ouimet (1913), Jerome Travers (1915), Charles Evans Jr. (1916), Robert T. Jones Jr. (1923, 1926, 1929-30) and John Goodman (1933). The last amateur to win a PGA TOUR event was Phil Mickelson at the 1991 Northern Telecom Open.

There are 10 amateurs in this week's 156-player field, including 2009 U.S. Amateur champion Byeong-Hun An (79), 2009 U.S. Amateur runner-up Ben Martin (78), Bennett Blakeman (81), Joseph Bramlett (79), Russell Henley (73), Morgan Hoffman (75), Scott Langley (75), Kevin Phelan (83), Andrew Putnam (76) and Hudson Swafford (76).

The last player to win the U.S. Open in his first attempt was Francis Ouimet in 1913.

Twenty-four players advanced through both local and sectional qualifying. Michael Allen's T12 finish in 2001 is the best by a local-sectional qualifier at the U.S. Open. This year's list includes:

Three players in the field celebrated birthdays on Wednesday. Here's a look at their first-round scores: Hiroyuki Fujita (72), Simon Khan (76) and Phil Mickelson (75).

Eight of the top-10 finishers from the 2000 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach GL are participating this year:

Active consecutive major appearances:

There were no bogey-free rounds posted during the first round.

Scoring Averages at the par-71 Pebble Beach Golf Links:

Pebble Beach Golf Links played as the toughest course on the PGA TOUR in 2000, the last time it hosted the U.S. Open. That year, it played to a 75.359 average.

Round One Stat Leaders:

Driving Distance: Dustin Johnson 325.0 yards

Driving Accuracy: B. Gates, E. Molinari, K. Perry, J. Leonard 13 of 14 fairways

Greens in Regulation: Alex Cejka 15 of 18 greens

Putts per Round Shaun: Micheel 22 putts

The par-3 17 th hole played the toughest, yielding a 3.576 average. The par-5 sixth hole was the easiest at 4.641.

A look at how they got here? The USGA accepted 9,052 entries, the second-highest total in the championship's history, in 2010, topping the record of 9,086 entries set in 2009. The 156-player field includes 78 fully exempt golfers and nine past champions. Local qualifying over 18 holes was held at 111 sites during the month of May in the attempt to advance to sectional qualifying. Sectional qualifying over 36 holes was held at 15 sites. The England and Japan sectionals were held on May 24. Thirteen sectionals in the United States were conducted on June 7 and 8.