The first round nearly is complete. There are a few surprises atop the leaderboard (like most U.S. Open's), and the big names made little noise on the first day.

Tiger Woods had a round that didn't surprise me a whole lot. Sure, he didn't make a birdie for only the third time he has played in a Major championship. He bogeyed three holes and had 15 pars. He bogeyed two of the last three holes he played, but he struggled with his putter. This is similar to how he played at Augusta National in the Masters. I still expect to see a top-5 finish out of him. He's in a very good position – five shots off the lead after day one.

Phil Mickelson played exactly how I thought he would. He had an erratic round off the tee and with his irons. His short game kept him closer to the top of the leaderboard than his ball striking should have had him. He shot a 4-over par 75. The course will be tougher when he plays it late in the day, so he needs to shoot even par or better to stay in contention heading into the weekend.

Shaun Micheel, Paul Casey and Brandon de Jonge are your leaders at 2-under par. De Jonge benefitted from the shot of the day. He holed out for eagle on the par-5 14th hole. I'll have second round coverage on Twitter (FromTeetoGreen) and second round reaction on here later Friday night. If you have any questions about the course or other players out there, feel free to email me or comment.

tseibert@rmtelegram.com