Shaun Micheel clubhouse leader with 69
Former 2003 PGA champion Shaun Micheel became the first player to break into the 60s in the first round of the U.S. Open today at Pebble Beach. Micheel rolled in a downhill, left-to-right 24-footer at the par-5 18th for a 69 that gave him the solo lead at 2-under par and made him the leader in the clubhouse.
Brendon De Jonge bogeyed the 16th hole to drop back to -1, and amateur Hudson Swafford bogeyed the second hole, which is his 11th of the day, to fall out of the lead at -1. Micheel's only PGA tour victory was that PGA championship seven years ago, but he's coming off a fourth-place finish last week in Memphis. His best-ever finish in the U.S. Open was a tie for 28th in the 2004 tournament at Shinnecock Hills.
De Jonge subsequently drilled the best tee shot of the day to within three feet at the par-3 17th and made the birdie putt to regain a tie for the lead with Micheel going to the 18th hole.