The US Open Championship 2014 leaderboard is set and the tourney is underway at Pinehurst and the major is live on ESPN and NBC with a live stream from the WatchESPN website and NBC Sports Network Live Extra online starting up in the morning for the second round heading into the weekend and Martin Kaymer set a record and is tops on the leaderboard, while Phil Mickelson was even and Rory McIlroy was one over heading into the next day.
The course was rough for most players and that was true for Bubba Watson and now the Open heads into Friday and Kaymer has the lead with three strokes after putting up a five under 65 and finished his day off with par on the final hole. Kaymer was strong with six birdies overall in the round and he his three down the stretch on his final three holes and that led him to the top of the leaderboard. Mickelson ended up even on the day and he said that his putter wasn't quite where it needed to be and he said he hoped to fix it by the weekend and he still is in solid position at Pinehurst.
The US Open is always a tough one to win and even more so for Mickelson, who has come in second place six different times and is looking to win all the majors in his career. Mickelson and other players had trouble at times on the course, which was restored big time and many players had their first experiences with the course in their practice rounds. Graeme McDowell has previously won a US Open and he had a solid day and ended up with a 68 and he did it on the easy side, going for 15 pars and hitting one eagle along with one birdie and only one par on his round and that put him position near the top of the leaderboard on Friday.
There are a number of players down on the leaderboard at 69 and that has Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson along with Brandt Snedeker and that was the most in an opening round under 70 in 10 years and that could make for some dramatic golf over the weekend. Mickelson is still just one US Open win away from getting the career slam and while he ended up even on the day, he blamed it partially on his putting and felt he hit his shots where he wanted them. Watson was not at his best either and he comes in after putting up a 76 on the day and he claimed the course beat him on this first day.
Justin Rose comes in after winning the major last year and he started off with a 72 and he now needs to make a big comeback for any chance at repeating and he is down there with Adam Scott on the leaderboard.
Check here for the leaderboard and live stream coverage for the US Open tournament.