The US Open Golf championship 2014 PGA Tour leaderboard has Martin Kaymer on top at five under with a three stroke lead early as the tournament starts up on Friday morning from Pinehurst for the next major on the PGA Tour schedule and things are on ESPN and the WatchESPN website with a live stream at 9 am ET and coverage will also be on later from NBC and the NBC Sports Live Extra website and has players like Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth looking to win the 114th tournament.
Mickelson has had his fair share of heartbreak at the US Open and he has been runner up six different times and he is coming in with confidence and thinks he has the chance to do something special here. Mickelson is coming off of an up and down tournament and he has the chance to get things right and this will be a big chance for him, as he knows Pinehurst well and feels comfortable there. Mickelson will be paired with Justin Rose and their group will start up at 7:51 AM ET on Pinehurst number 2 for the first round and on Friday they will tee off in the afternoon session.
Rory McIlroy has two US Open titles to his name and he is looking to win another one after taking things at Congressional in 2011 and now he has the chance to make a big impact. McIlroy met with the Golden Bear Jack Nicklaus to get some advice ahead of things and since he has four of those and four second place finishes, he is the right man to speak with. McIlroy comes in playing well and he won the BMW PGA Championship on the European tour and has finished in the top 10 ten times this year and that has been big for him after the breakup with Caroline Wozniacki and his struggles last year.
Tiger Woods is not at the tournament and while he did not play well this year, it's a big loss for the field and he is hoping to return for one of the two majors left on the schedule. The Open Championship is at Royal Liverpool and that's a place where Woods is comfortable and now he likely will be missing that tournament after getting back surgery and that kept him out of the US Open this time around. Last year Woods was off to amazing start, winning three times ahead of the Masters and winning five overall and he got his number one ranking back.
Adam Scott now has the number one ranking and Mickelson and McIlroy can steal some thunder from him if they can win a championship here. Mickelson is looking to complete the career major slam and this could be his chance finally after dealing with so many close calls over the years. Woods is out, but Mickelson and McIlroy are coming in strong and Justin Rose is the champions from last year, while Adam Scott should be in the mix at the tournament as well.
Check here for the PGA tour leaderboard from the US Open or for more from ESPN and SWR on the US Open major championship this year.