US Open Golf 2012 Live: Instant Analysis of Andy Zhang and Most Polarizing Stars

The opening round of the 2012 U.S. Open is well underway, and we've seen a fair share of both good and bad performances.

Well, to be more exact, we've seen a fair share of good and abysmal performances.

There are only three players under par at the moment, a testament to the difficulty of the course at the Olympic Club in San Francisco, Calif. On the other side of the spectrum, there are 32 players at five-over-par or worse.

Here we'll analyze the rounds from two of the most polarizing players in today's field.

Andy Zhang

At just 14 years old, Zhang is the kind of athlete that you either pull really hard for, or you hope he's a massive flop.

The gentle-hearted golf fan may hold the sentiment that it's great to see a young kid who has played well enough get to this point and is now in a field with probably every golfer he's ever watched play.

On the other hand, you are the hard-nosed old-timer who thinks that this kid has absolutely no business playing in a major PGA Tour championship and should be worried about studying for his upcoming finals.

Zhang has pleased his detractors and is currently eight-over-par through 14 holes. This wasn't hard to see coming, though. Zhang was unlucky enough to start his day on the toughest stretch of holes. One through five saw him triple-bogey, double-bogey and string together three straight bogeys to put himself in a rut before he really got started.

It hasn't been all bad for Zhang today. He birdied No. 7 and put together seven straight pars from nine to 15. 

He has a long road ahead of him to feasibly be in contention to make the cut, but we've seen stranger things happen.

Tiger Woods

Don't act like you're surprised that the most polarizing golfer in the field is on this list. As expected, Tiger will get the most coverage of anybody in the U.S. Open over the next few days.

After that whole debacle with his wife in November 2009, and the events that soon took place after, there's no middle ground for Tiger. Either you're pulling for him, or you're pulling for him to stink.

He looked good today. He played some of the more impressive golf that we've seen him play in an opening round this year, and he's now in prime position to take the lead into the weekend.

Woods went into the clubhouse at just one-under, but he's just three shots back of Michael Thompson for the lead. If we've learned anything about Tiger Woods, it's that you can't discount his ability to make a furious charge.

After starting his day with five straight pars from nine to 13, Woods bogeyed 14, but he collected himself to notch birdies on 17, four and five.

The birdie put on five was a bit of a risk because if he didn't put it right on line, the ball would have rolled far, far past the cup. 

A bogey on the par-five sixth somewhat diminished his momentum to end the day, but he'll be able to capitalize on his respectable round.