US Open Golf 2012 Leaderboard: Players Who'll Keep Struggling with Tough Course

Mama said there'll be days like this. Unfortunately for the majority of the players at the U.S. Open who struggled on Thursday, there are going to be a few more like this, too. 

Olympic Club is just a hard course.

We knew it coming in, but the just take a look at the leaderboard (you can find it below) for proof. A round of experience will likely help things a little bit, but Friday will still be ugly.

Let's take a look at who will struggle for a second straight day and who will play with fire around the cut line. 

Bubba Watson (+8)

Watson's game just isn't suited for Olympic. 

He's electric. He doesn't really think things through; he just rips the ball with his pink driver and hopes for the best. 

At more open courses, he can have success, but at Olympic, it's just not going to work. If you don't hit the fairways or if you put yourself in bad positions on the green, you are going to get killed for it. 

Watson, who is 99th in the world in driving accuracy, was punished on Thursday for his inability to find some accuracy. He shot plus-eight and finds himself in a tie for 139th place. 

Don't expect the reckless game to save him on Friday, either. 

Phil Mickelson (+6)

Lefty isn't quite as "bold" as Watson, but he still plays an aggressive style that puts him in a bad position for this course. 

Of course, it's not like Mickelson doesn't know that. He knows, especially at the U.S Open, he has to hold it in a little bit. Unfortunately for Phil, that style might be too foreign for him to have success. 

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"Yeah, it's sometimes a tendency that I'll have in a U.S. Open," said Mickelson after his first round (via cybergolf.com). "I'll make tentative swings because of what could happen as opposed to making aggressive, confident swings. I hit a very poor wedge there into a bunker and didn't get up and down."

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He just doesn't seem confident in what he's doing, and that's going to bite him again for another poor round on Friday.

Mickelson hasn't missed a cut at a major since 2007 at the Open Championship, but he'll be in danger of having that streak broken. 

Zach Johnson (+7)

Johnson, who has eight PGA tour wins and one major under his belt, was a favorite sleeper coming in. And after the first hole, he looked like a good pick.

The Iowa City native birdied his first hole, but everything went downhill from there. He bogeyed No. 3, double bogeyed No. 4, then bogeyed five, six and eight. 

Just like that, he was five-over par through eight holes. A double bogey on No. 15 put Johnson to plus-seven, where he sits now. 

Johnson, 15th in the world in driving accuracy, is much better at finding fairways and greens than Watson and Lefty, which means he could turn it around on Friday. However, the desperation to find birdies is just going to hurt Johnson on this unforgiving course. 

The world No. 18 is in trouble. 

Leaderboard

Rank	Player	Score	Thru
1	Michael Thompson	-4	F
T2	Graeme McDowell	-1	F
T2	Nick Watney	-1	F
T2	Tiger Woods	-1	F
T2	Justin Rose	-1	F
T2	David Toms	-1	F
T7	Jim Furyk	-1	F
T7	Jason Bohn	E	F
T7	Beau Hossler (A)	E	F
T7	Robert Karlsson	E	F

There are four more players tied for seventh at even par. For a complete look at the full leaderboard, click here.