US Open Golf 2012 Leaderboard: Tiger Woods' Dominance in His Group Bodes Well

Nobody is under more pressure than Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson right now in the U.S. Open. The whole world is watching them—and possibly only them, if you're subscribing to the U.S. Open's online video feed. 

The three are playing in the marquee group for the first two days at Olympic, and it's no secret that whoever comes out on top at the end of the first round will have a huge advantage—especially a mental one. 

Thursday's round is particularly important for Tiger, who's proven to be the kind of player whose finishes are heavily influenced by his performance on Day 1 of a tournament. It seems he either uses the momentum to propel him forward for the rest of the tournament, or he gets caught up in the frustration after a bad initial performance and never recovers.

That's exactly why shooting one-under through 14 holes on Thursday was such a good sign for his aspirations of winning his 15th major. He may not be in first place, but he's not buried in the middle of the leaderboard on Day 1, like he was during the Masters. He never recovered from a bad first day at Augusta.

This time around, he's a mere two shots off the lead. That's nothing. That will be easy to make up over the next three days, especially as one of the more experienced players on one of the most challenging courses the PGA Tour has to offer.

And considering the fact that Mickelson is in his group, it has never been more imperative for Tiger to come out swinging.

Mickelson could be some of his toughest competition this weekend, and Tiger desperately needed to ignore the pressure and avoid falling into a hole that would have been impossible to climb out of. He needed to show Mickelson and Watson what they were up against instead of measuring his own performance against theirs, and that is exactly what he did.

Through 14 holes, he led Mickelson by six strokes, and he led Watson by eight. Obviously, the score gives Tiger an edge heading into Day 2, but it also gives him the kind of tremendous mental boost that's proven to be crucial to his success. Tiger can be lethal when he's confident, and nothing will give him more self-assurance than entering Day 2 knowing he's in the best possible shape.

It's always better to be looking over your shoulder than looking ahead when you're Tiger Woods.

*You can see the full U.S. Open leaderboard here.