Dougherty leads U.S. Open; Woods lurks

Golf Betting Lines

06/15/2007 - Oakmont, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Englishman Nick Dougherty shot a two-under 68 Thursday to take the first-round lead at the U.S. Open.

His red number barely had any company.

Angel Cabrera was the only other player under-par following a tough round at Oakmont where the scoring average soared over 75. The Argentine was sitting one shot behind at one-under 69.

Jose Maria Olazabal and Bubba Watson were another stroke further back at even- par 70.

"The U.S. Open is brutal, it tests every aspect of your game," said Dougherty, whose early 68 held up through the afternoon tee times of Vijay Singh, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Jim Furyk.

Tiger Woods played in the morning and opened with a one-over 71 to lead a group of 16 players who were tied for fifth place. Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy, Furyk, Singh and 51-year-old Fred Funk were among those at 71.

"The golf course is playing hard, and this is with pretty benign conditions and pretty favorable pin positions," said Woods, who had four bogeys and three birdies.

Woods made those comments early in the afternoon, when it looked like Oakmont might still yield some lower scores. The course was softened by rain that fell Wednesday, allowing for slower greens for the first dozen or so groups.

"Oakmont probably will never play easier than we had it in the first nine holes," said Ogilvy, who won his first major at Winged Foot last year.

Dougherty admitted the previous day's rain helped the early groups. His number was one shot better than the leading 18-hole score last year, when Colin Montgomerie's 69 was the highest first-round score to lead a U.S. Open in 20 years.

"You can get putts to stop relatively close to the hole," Dougherty said.

Some weren't so lucky, even those who played in the more favorable morning conditions.

Adam Scott (76), Henrik Stenson (79), Sergio Garcia (79), Paul Casey (77) and K.J. Choi (77) were among those who couldn't do enough to avoid the mistakes that can potentially end a player's U.S. Open on the first day.

Mickelson played with a black brace on his injured left wrist and opened with a four-over 74, a number that looked just good enough to keep him in the mix a year after his 72nd-hole collapse at Winged Foot.

He removed the brace to putt, revealing a bandage underneath. It's the same injury that forced his withdrawal from the Memorial two weeks ago and caused him to miss a start last week in Memphis.

"I'm not overly disappointed. It could have been a round that got away from me," Mickelson said.

Especially at Oakmont, where Mickelson said he may have originally suffered the injury while chipping from the long rough during a practice round a few weeks ago.

At its longest, the rough is around six inches deep -- same as it was at Winged Foot last year. Mickelson's toughest test may have come from a bunker shot on the back nine, which he blasted within inches to save par.

"I feel like I hung in there, and I'm excited to still be in it," he said.

Dougherty had four birdies to go along with back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 7 and 8. His last birdie was set up by a 54-degree wedge shot to six feet at the 17th, a 313-yard par four.

The 25-year-old Englishman, who is still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, said he thought the course was playing "easy." Not that he wanted everyone to know that.

"I hate saying it ... Especially if a USGA official picks up on that," he said. "It's still frightfully tough out there."

Indeed, Oakmont was showing its teeth.

Woods hit his first drive at No. 1 into one of the course's 210 bunkers and opened with a bogey. He came right back with a 15-foot birdie at the second hole to get back to even par.

"I hit enough fairways to at least give myself a chance," said Woods, who has won two U.S. Opens and 12 majors overall. "When I didn't, I just put it back in play."

Woods found bunkers again at the third and fourth holes, but made par, then rolled in another 15-foot putt for birdie at the sixth.

He was even-par around the turn, though, after making a bogey from a bunker at 288-yard, par-three eighth. Woods slipped to one-over with a two-putt bogey at the 10th.

Hitting into another bunker at the 12th, Woods made bogey and fell to two- over. But he made a good par after hitting into a bowl-like scoop in the green at the 13th, then later moved back to one-over with a three-foot birdie at the 17th.

It was a grinder's round from the world's top player -- and a far cry from his start at Winged Foot, where Woods missed the cut with two rounds of 76 not long after the death of his father.

"You know the U.S. Open is going to be a grind," Woods said.

In the other majors, he added, there are shots where you can take off. There are easy shots where you can "close your eyes" and hit it on the fairways and greens.

"On this golf course, there are none," Woods said.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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