US Open Leaderboard 2015: Twitter Reacts to Results and Standings from Thursday

The 2015 U.S. Open opened with two early clubhouse leaders rising to the occasion in the season's second major.

Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson both carded five-under scores of 65 on Thursday to lead at Chambers Bay in University Place, Washington.

Johnson and Stenson absolutely crush the ball, and their advantage in length was evident in the first 18 holes, as they hit shorter clubs than most into the tricky greens and made a bundle of birdies. Young American star Patrick Reed is just one shot off the pace after a 66.

Steve Elling of Golfblot.com weighed in on the presence of Johnson and Reed on the Day 1 leaderboard:

Reed fields criticism for his infamous "top-five" comment and the general brash attitude he carries with him. However, he has backed it up with four big PGA Tour victories to date at age 24.

No Laying Up seized the opportunity to make fun of one particular club in Reed's bag this week:

No stranger to winning either, with at least one victory in each of the past eight seasons counting this one, the question for Johnson has been his desire to be great.

After a self-imposed hiatus to end last season, it appears Johnson is truly engaged on the big stage thus far, with plenty of talent to eventually become a multiple major champion. Winning that first one is the first step, though.

As a past Players and FedEx Cup champion, Stenson has all of the tools to win a major in his own right. Putting has often held him back, but that wasn't a problem to start his championship.

Birdies on four of the final five holes sent the sweet-swinging Swede soaring up the leaderboard. PGA Tour Media noted the significance of Stenson's score in relation to the rest of his career:

Phil Mickelson is pursuing the career Grand Slam and has an unprecedented six runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open. Birdies on three of his first eight holes inspired faith that Mickelson could contend this week, but a two-over 37 on the back nine caused him to drop to one under for the day.

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy posted a two-over 72, and he expressed frustration at the uneven putting surfaces at Chambers Bay, per PGATour.com's Brian Wacker:

This figures to be a common theme throughout the week. Often outspoken Spaniard Sergio Garcia shot a 70 and was still displeased with the greens:

The following stat from Golf Channel's Justin Ray doesn't bode well for McIlroy:

Other notables who fell flat on Thursday in the later hours were Tiger Woods and Rickie Fowler, the former a three-time U.S. Open winner and the latter a top-five finisher in all four of last year's majors.

Woods had zero birdies and seven bogeys in his first 13 holes and finished with a 10-over score of 80. Fowler was even worse off at nine over par heading to the 12th tee before the PGA Tour's official Twitter account described his brief flip of fortune:

Fowler recorded the second-worst score of the day, clocking in at 11-over when all was said and done. 

Stephanie Wei reacted to a lesser known name on the leaderboard in Ben Martin to relate to how awful Fowler's round was going:

It was worth waiting this long to get into Woods' performance, because it was simply one that would be forgotten if not for his stature in the game.

The reaction from ESPN's Peter Burns just before Woods made a triple-bogey at the par-four 14th was rather appropriate in a heartbreaking sort of way:

Chris DiMarco, who finished second to Woods in the Masters and The Open Championship during his heyday, offered an interesting analogy:

As much of the afternoon wave struggled to find traction, one threesome managed to go rather low together in Masters champion Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Jason Day. All three were under par through the 12th hole and appear well on their way to contending this weekend.

PGATour.com's Sean Martin reacted to how well the three marquee stars fared in the early going:

Spieth, who finished at two-under, began to really heat up on the back nine, prompting the following reaction from ESPN.com's Jason Sobel, who hinted at the local knowledge edge the young phenom figures to have:

CBS Sports' Kyle Porter is hoping Spieth's Ryder Cup pal in Reed will join him come Sunday when the championship is being decided:

And it could well shake out that way. As a quick bonus bit of reaction, Fox Sports took over the U.S. Open golf coverage for the first time to mixed reviews.

Here's a small sample from Fox analyst Jimmy Johnson, who was kind, and WSAZ-TV sports director Keith Morehouse, who wasn't as warm:

Back to the actual golf: Spieth and Reed are part of a refreshing youth movement filled with players who are fearless and don't seem to be bothered no matter how high the stakes are. Meanwhile, even the legendary Woods is steering his ball and searching for some semblance of the dominance and intimidation factor he once boasted.

One could have considered it a miracle for Woods to have won his first major since the 2008 U.S. Open this week. Now it will take something miraculous for him just to make the cut.

How Johnson and Stenson handle themselves will be fascinating to witness as they pursue their maiden majors, not to mention Mickelson, who will tee off later on Friday. Lefty will have an idea of how the course is playing and what type of score he needs to stay close.

Even with two of the biggest names in golf in McIlroy and especially Woods struggling, the 115th U.S. Open still figures to be a dandy if the first day is any indication.