US Open Leaderboard 2012: Golfers Whose Early Gaffes Are Signs of More to Come

Time isn’t the issue.

Only a few holes into the 2012 U.S. Open, a handful of golfers already find themselves behind on the leaderboard. With over three days left to play, players have plenty of time to bounce back from their early struggles, but here’s a trio that won’t.

3. Bubba Watson

Watson bogeyed his first and third hole of the day to go two over. The 2012 Masters champion shouldn’t get discouraged…yet. Expect the bogeys to pile up and take him off the pace to win back-to-back majors.

While he’s rated as one of the world’s best golfers, Watson has just a single major victory to his name. The best he’s ever finished in a U.S. Open is tied for fifth, and that was way back in 2007. He won’t improve on that mark this year.

2. Scott Langley

It isn’t like anyone expected Langley to outplay Tiger Woods and golf’s biggest names, but he doesn’t even look ready to compete. While the 23-year-old finished tied for 16th in the 2010 U.S. Open, he won’t sniff that finish in 2012.

After recording a seven on the second hole and following that up with a bogey, he’s four over and has dug himself a hole that he won’t be able to climb out of.

1. Phil Mickelson

Mickelson hates the U.S. Open. He’s finished second in the tournament five times and looks well on his way to another loss. Lefty bogeyed his first three holes of Day 1.

According to CBC Sports, Mickelson said going into the weekend:

"

I feel like I've developed a good game plan as to how I want to play the golf course. I feel that I should be able to play to that game plan and post a number that I feel will be competitive. I don't know if it will win.

"

I don’t know if it will win.

Mickelson sounds confident. Expect another letdown.

Here is the current leaderboard provided by ESPN.

Player	Score	Thru
1. Michael Thompson	-3	16
2. David Toms	-2	15
T3. Jason Bohn	-1	17
T3. Tiger Woods	-1	16
T5. Marc Warren	E	11
T5. Francesco Molinari	E	11
T5. Robert Karlsson	E	14
T5. Alistair Presnell	E	10
T5. Michael Allen	E	11
T5. Beau Hossler	E	F

David Daniels is a featured columnist at Bleacher Report and a syndicated writer.

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