The marquee grouping of the US Open first round saw Tiger Woods steal the show from Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson at the Olympic Club.
Mickelson and Watson, struggled to cope with the tough course as Woods took over the spotlight with a wonderful 1-under par 69 to begin the 112th US Open.
Mickelson, who started with a disastrous opening shot which saw his tee shot find the trees, finished with an opening round of 6-over 76 while Watson suffered even more, with an 8-over 78.
Woods, meanwhile, carded his best US Open first round since his title-winning run at Bethpage Black in New York in 2002.
However, Woods was not the overall leader as little-known Michael Thompson shot a remarkable 4-under to take the sole lead.
Woods is tied for second with David Toms, Nick Watney, Justin Rose and Graeme McDowell.
"I played well today. I felt like I had control of my game all day and just stuck to my game plan and executed my game plan," said Woods, who broke par to start a US Open for only the fourth time in 17 starts. "I was very pleased.
"Phil and Bubba were off just a little bit. This is one of those Opens where it's just really hard to make birdies. This is not like it was last year (at Congressional Country Club, where Rory McIlroy won at 16 under). This is a tough one."
Mickelson and Watson admitted it was a tough day for them. "It's a very difficult challenge, and if you have great control of your ball flight, of your game, you can shoot a number around par," Mickelson, who withdrew from the Memorial a couple of weeks ago after a disastrous first round, observed.
"But if you play like I did and you start missing it off the tee and three-putting, you're going to shoot a high number like I did."
"It beat me up today," Watson added. "It's winning by, it's beating me by eight right now. It's a lot better than I am. That course is too tough for me."
Woods had a brilliant start to the round, making birdies in the 4th and 5th holes, of an opening six-hole stretch considered to be the toughest. "Five was a fluke," Woods said, chuckling, referring to the 35-footer he holed. "That putt was off the green if it didn't go in."
Watson was impressed by his playing partner's form. "Yeah, that was the old Tiger. That was beautiful to watch.
"That's what we all come to see. That's what we all want to watch and that was awesome to see him strike the ball like that.
"He hit every shot shape he was trying to hit. I didn't see any bad swings. I didn't see any bad shot really."
Surprise leader, Thompson is a sectional qualifier, competing in only his second US Open. The 27-year-old, however, said he was familiar with the course and took that to his advantage. "To be able to have that experience . . . I played I guess 11 rounds in nine or 10 days and you play a golf course, any golf course that many times, you're going to know where to hit it," he said. "I just fed off those vibes.
"If I go out and putt the way I did today, I'll be in contention."
