U.S. Open Golf Results 2012: Day 1 Finishes for Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, More

Tiger Woods looked like his old self after Day 1 of the U.S. Open. For most of the rest of the field, including Rory McIlroy, it was a brutal test of golf that caused many of them to finish the day with terrible results. 

The Olympic Club won't be getting any easier, either, as the wind and sunshine dry out the course. The glass-like greens will continue getting harder and faster, and scores will continue to soar.

Although there were a handful of players who shot under-par on Thursday, there won't be a single golfer under-par by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around.

Let's take a look at how Woods, McIlroy and some of the others fared after Day 1 at the 2012 U.S. Open.

Michael Thompson Leads the Pack After Shooting 66

It really shouldn't shock anyone that we have a surprise leader after Day 1. It seems to happen just about every year.

Michael Thompson returned to the scene of his runner-up finish in the 2007 U.S. Amateur Championship and took the lead with an opening-round score of 66—four-under par.

He loves playing at the Olympic Club, and he talked about his love affair to GolfWeek.com:

"

I’ve been looking forward to hopefully playing in this event for over two years [...]. This is just a bonus in my career. I'm not guaranteed into all the majors. And then to have it be on one of my most favorite golf courses in the world, even better.

"

I'll say this for his chances of continued success on Friday and beyond: Thompson will need to hit more than eight greens in regulation for his success to continue. He got hot with his putter on Thursday morning, but the course will be playing a whole lot tougher on Friday afternoon.

He must hit greens in regulation or his excellent opening-round score will disintegrate.

David Toms Proves That Little Guys Can Shoot Low on This Course

David Toms is an excellent golfer, but nobody will ever accuse him of being a big hitter off the tee. So far this season, Toms is ranked 174th on the PGA Tour in that category, hitting the ball under 275 yards off the tee on average.

That may seem like a disadvantage on a course like the Olympic Club, which played at 7,170 yards on Thursday, but Toms' 69 is living proof that you don't have to hit the ball far to score low. 

Toms spoke to reporters about his opening-round 69, via the Shreveport Times: 

"

As cold as it was early on the range this morning, putting everything I had on, certainly I would take anything -- even par, really. Up‑and‑down game was good today. Very, very solid. I had a lot of great bunker shots.

"

His one-under par score after one round tied him with Tiger Woods for second place heading into Friday's round.

Rory McIlroy Shows He's Still Slumping

Rory McIlroy played well enough last weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Classic to convince some folks that he was out of the slump that caused him to miss three cuts in a row. His performance at the Olympic Club in the first round of the U.S. Open proves that he's not out of the woods just yet.

McIlroy shot an opening-round 77—seven-over par. He is tied for 117th place after Day 1, and he'll need to play better tomorrow if he has any hope of staying in this tournament over the weekend.

The biggest problem McIlroy faces is his own swing. He is not hitting enough fairways and greens to get into any kind of groove, as he's always getting out of trouble. 

I predict that McIlroy will do enough to get himself into the weekend, but he'll struggle over the weekend and leave us all wondering if he will ever get back to the great play that we saw a year ago.

Tiger Woods Is Turning Back the Clock

Tiger Woods is starting to look like...well...Tiger Woods. 

It's been a while since I've seen Woods look as comfortable out on a golf course as he looked in the first round of the U.S. Open. He's in full control of his golf swing, hitting draws and fades with ease, and his distance control is also right on point.

One of the biggest changes to Woods' game lately is that he's going with fairway woods and irons off the tee more often than not. He realizes that the key to his game is getting the ball in play, and now that he's doing so, the proof is in the pudding.

Woods shot an opening-round 69—one-under par. He had three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars. That is championship golf right there. He isn't pressing, and he knows that shooting par is the key to winning here under the difficult conditions the USGA sets up for this championship.

Don't look for Woods to break down over the weekend, either. He is as focused and on top of his game as we've seen in a few years. He'll be in this thing right until the end.

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