US Open Golf 2012: Power Ranking Americans Still in the Hunt

This was a day that looked like a United States Open.

Olympic Club played to a very brutal, but very fair, 74.89-shot average on a beautiful sunny day in San Francisco.

Only six players out of the field of 156 actually broke par on a day where wind was not much of a factor.

For the home country, it was a great day. The leaderboard at the end of day one was solidly, if not surprisingly, colored in red, white and blue.

Yes, such big names as Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson more than likely shot their way out of the championship, but golf’s biggest star in Tiger Woods is very much in the thick of things, and several of the country's best are just lurking around the corner.

Here are nine American stars in contention, a most unlikely qualifier that carries a three-shot lead and an icon who just had a really bad day at the office. 

11. Phil Mickelson

Position: T94

OWGR: 13

Someone should steal the driver out of his golf bag before this afternoon.

After losing his opening shot of the tournament into a tree, things did not improve for Lefty.

A six-over 76 puts his chances just to make the cut into serious question.

Mickelson tried too many times to hit driver off the tee and found the deep rough too many times to salvage par.

There was no part of his game that looked good.

He putted poorly. He played his approaches poorly. Most surprising, he managed his entire round poorly.

He has to shoot even par today and hope that the cut line moves to six over.

On the off chance he does indeed make the cut, he has to hope that the winning score for the week is two or three over par. In reality, he played himself out of the championship.

Only because we know that Phil can be such a magician could we list him as having any sort of shot after such an awful round. 

10. David Toms

Position: T2

OWGR: 42

An unlikely person to be contending at 45, Toms is a delightful surprise.

Toms putted well, needing only 26 to get around the course, and he made a par each of the five times he found a bunker—just a remarkable stat.

Not much is expected out of the 2001 PGA Champion this week, but, at least for one day, he was able to turn back the clock and is certainly capable of contending with three more solid, steady rounds.

In order to pull this off, however, he has to be much more accurate off the tee and find greens.

His experience in majors paid off yesterday, but he beat the field by five shots in score. He would be very hard pressed to do that for four straight days, but he at least will be able to play four straight days.

9. Michael Thompson

Position: 1

OWGR: 107

There are a couple of things we should be amazed about with Thompson.

First is that he's an actual qualifier leading the Open; he qualified at Riviera in Los Angeles.

Second is the fact he made it around Olympic Club in just 22 putts despite missing 10 of the 18 greens.

Thompson was the runner-up five years ago, when the US Amateur was held on the same course he slayed Thursday.

Chances are that this is a typical Thursday anomaly when an unknown has a great round then struggles to just make the cut.

On the off chance he can maintain a good spot in the field, he can credit his good play to that Amateur five years ago and his resulting familiarity with the course.

At worst, he will always be able to tell his children that he was the solo leader in an Open, even if it was just one night.

He will feel the pressure today, because he will have all day not only to think about his surprise 66 Thursday, but also to see if he still leads when he plays this afternoon. If there is a silver lining in that, it is the fact that Tiger plays at the same time.

8. Nick Watney

Position: T2

OWGR: 27

At three over on the middle of the 17th fairway, it did not look good for Watney. Starting on the back side, he had just bogeyed the 16th and three out of five.

When he holed on his second stroke for only the third double-eagle in Open history, his whole demeanor changed, and he would then make seven straight pars until birdieing the short par-four seventh.

He will need to do better than hitting just half the fairways to win, but he played well enough on Thursday that if he shoots around par the rest of the weekend, he has a solid chance.

In any event, Watney will never forget his amazing feat at this year's Open.

7. Rickie Fowler

Position: T23

OWGR: 20

Mental fatigue seemed to hit Fowler pretty hard late in round one.

He only hit five out of 14 fairways on the day and, after a bad tee shot on the fifth, that fatigue started to show.

His second from the left deep rough also failed to find a fairway or green, and the frustration was quite visible on his face and in his stride.

He did hit a lot of greens and had a respectable 31 putts, but this week is so much about the mental aspects. In order for him to contend and win, he has to learn to shake these things off, take the bad score and just move on to the next tee.

His lack of experience probably dooms him here, but he will take plenty away.

6. Webb Simpson

Position: T23

OWGR: 14

For only hitting just half of the fairways and half of the greens, Webb Simpson’s two-over 72 is actually pretty impressive.

Simpson got around Thursday needing only 28 putts, a very good number despite not really giving himself too many opportunities to actually score.

He never made anything worse than a bogey on his round, which is very respectable.

At only six shots behind a true unknown and just three shots behind Tiger Woods, if this was indeed Simpson’s bad round, then he is in good shape the rest of the way.

He has to be more accurate off the tee to hang on this weekend.

5. Jason Dufner

Position: T23

OWGR: 9

While only hitting just half the fairways Thursday, Dufner played well enough to keep him in the hunt.

He played the monster first six holes at even par and birdied the short par-four seventh.

Where he did struggle was on the back nine, dropping shots on 16 and 18. Because he played the back side first Thursday afternoon, he will get those holes as he closes his second round.

If Dufner can keep his head clear and shoot around par, then he will be in good shape come the weekend and put himself in contention in a third straight major. 

If he does, he may just break through and win.

4. Hunter Mahan

Position: T23

OWGR: 8

Two rough holes coming in put Mahan over par on the day. Luckily for Hunter, he plays these holes first this afternoon and has the easier back side coming in as he plots just what he has to do on the weekend.

He was above average in hitting fairways and greens, but struggled in the sand. He also did not putt very well, with 33 putts on the card.

If he can do a bit better on the greens and in the sand, then his 72 Thursday does not knock him out of serious contention.

He is lurking and capable of striking if he gives himself the chance.

3. Jim Furyk

Position: T7

OWGR: 36

Furyk played a steady first round. One bogey, one birdie and 16 rock-solid pars.

While wishing for a few less putts over the weekend and to hit a couple more fairways, the 2003 Open winner is really the only American on the top of the leaderboard with the experience to beat Tiger.

Furyk has had a good season coming into this week, and that confidence was on display Thursday.

The winning score should be absolutely no more than six under par and probably closer to two or three under par. There is a lot of golf left to get just a couple shots.

His being a previous Open champion will give him some needed confidence going forward. Olympic Club is proving to be, on the course's fifth Open visit, a typical stern test.

There is not anything the USGA comes up with that he will not be at least familiar with, and experience counts.

2. Matt Kuchar

Position: T7

OWGR: 6

Kuchar’s putting probably will not make him happy going into today’s round, but his card could not have been anymore steady.

Despite 32 putts, he had two birdies, two bogeys and 14 pars. That is classic US Open golf.

Kuchar is pretty much exactly where he wants to be. He is only four off the lead and knows unless Tiger really goes low this afternoon that he should not be any more than four behind going into the weekend.

He will lurk in the shadows, just staying within shouting distance until he feels he can make his move.

Kuchar really is in great shape to win, provided Tiger slips up big at some point.

1. Tiger Woods

Position: T2

OWGR: 4

Woods, in the end, played all of two bad shots. Outside of that, his day was just terrific.

Tiger, unlike his partners Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson, left his driver in the bag for the most part. The end result was a solid day of fairways hit, 10 of 14 on the day, and a good day in hitting greens in regulation, 11 of 18.

Woods played the monster stretch of holes one through six at one-under par, just giving a single shot back after a poor bunker shot on the sixth.

Woods had to tap into his creativity in order to win and, at least on the first day—mission accomplished.

Woods just thought his way around the course. He minimized his risks and let the chances come to him.

He had a rather short putt for birdie on the second and missed. His bogey on six was as a result of an unforced error on a bunker shot by the green.

He putted well and did not find himself having to make long par putts—essential if he wins this week.

Tiger completely holds his destiny in his own hands. When he did miss his shot, the location was still in a place where par was not a problem.

While not ahead right now, one gets the strong sense this is his Open to lose.