PINEHURST, N.C. – Wearing a target at the U.S. Open is nothing new for Adam Scott.

He had a green jacket-shaped bull’s-eye on his back as last year’s Masters champion at Merion.

As the world’s top-ranked player at Pinehurst No. 2 this week, it comes with much more stress.

“Last year, I felt the weight of the world off my shoulders – I had just won my first major, so I thought everything was bonus from there,” Scott said Friday. “Certainly a little bit of expectation on myself and maybe from everyone else as being the No. 1 player at the moment, to perform like that. That’s something I’ve tried to adjust to after the last few weeks since being No. 1.”

During a round dominated by Martin Kaymer’s record-breaking second straight 65, Scott had an under-the-radar 67 that marked his best score at a U.S. Open, and just the third time in 13 years that he’s been under par there.

That helped him move to even par – 10 strokes behind Kaymer.

“I needed a good one today,” Scott said. “I think I probably got the better end of the draw on the first two days, coming out early after a bit of soaking rain overnight and that front nine certainly we could fire a little more aggressively at the pins. Hit some good shots and made some putts today and it still felt like hard work, but I’m very happy with the score.”

It’s been 42 years since someone other than Tiger Woods (2002) won the Masters and the U.S. Open in the same year. Jack Nicklaus was the last to do it in 1972.

Scott couldn’t do it last year, finishing in a tie for 45th at Merion, and current Masters champion Bubba Watson wrapped up his second round at 6 over.

“They are both such demanding tests of your game, and to be in that kind of form those two weeks in the one year is asking a lot,” Scott said. “The competition is getting stronger and stronger and only a guy with Tiger’s record has been able to do that, and it shows you how hard that is.”

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IN IT TO QUINN IT: Fran Quinn will get to spend some quality time with his son on Father’s Day.

The 49-year-old Web.com Tour journeyman followed his opening-round 68 with a 74 that left him 2 over and assured of making the cut.

That means he’ll get to play Sunday with his 15-year-old son Owen as his caddie.

“It’s the U.S. Open. You go out there … all the stands are packed, people are cheering for you,” Quinn said. “People are rooting for you. People love the story. And, you know, it’s pretty neat to see a father playing with his son caddying on the bag on Father’s Day weekend.”

Simply making the cut is a huge deal for Quinn, a Massachusetts player who failed to make it to the weekend of his only Web.com Tour event this year and is in his first U.S. Open since 1996.

He had to play his way to Pinehurst this year at a sectional qualifier in Purchase, New York.

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BATTLE OF THE BLUES: Leave it to the USGA to stoke one of the nation’s most intense rivalries in college sports.

This is a region where school ties run deep. And perhaps with that in mind, one of the Friday morning groupings included former University of North Carolina player Mark Wilson and Duke graduate Joe Ogilvie.

The USGA resorted to a bit of wordplay with the final member of the threesome – Ken Duke.

That led Ogilvie to quip that playing with Ken Duke “is much better than playing with Ken Carolina.”

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USGA FAREWELL: Joe Ogilvie has played his final round at a USGA event.

The former Duke player tweeted after his round Friday that this U.S. Open would be his final USGA event as a player.

Ogilvie shot a 76 and was at 9 over through two rounds.

PINEHURST, N.C. –

Martin Kaymer is playing a brand of golf rarely seen in the U.S. Open. It might even be enough for soccer-mad Germany to pay attention.

The other 155 players at Pinehurst No. 2 certainly are.

Kaymer set the 36-hole scoring record at the U.S. Open on Friday with another 5-under 65 – this one without a single bogey – to build an early eight-shot lead and leave the rest of the field wondering if the 29-year-old German was playing a different course, or even a different tournament.

“If he does it for two more days, then we’re all playing for second spot,” Adam Scott said.

Kaymer was at 10-under 130, breaking by one shot the record set by Rory McIlroy at rain-softened Congressional in 2011.

“I played Congressional and I thought, `How can you shoot that low?’ And that’s probably what a lot of other people think about me right now,” Kaymer said.

A fast-moving thunderstorm dumped rain on Pinehurst overnight, though it didn’t make the course that much easier. The pins were in tougher locations. Trouble is waiting around any corner at Pinehurst No. 2. Kaymer rarely found it.

He opened with a short birdie on the par-5 10th hole, added birdie putts from 20 and 25 feet, and then hit a gorgeous drive on the par-4 third hole, where the tee was moved up to make it play 315 yards. His shot landed perfectly between two bunkers and bounced onto the green to set up a two-putt birdie.

And the lead kept growing.

“I look at the scoreboards. It’s enjoyable,” Kaymer said. “To see what’s going on, to watch yourself, how you react if you’re leading by five, by six. … I don’t know, but it’s quite nice to play golf that way.”

It looks like a typical U.S. Open – except for Kaymer.

Dustin Johnson opened with a pair of 69s, a score he would have gladly taken at the start of the week and perhaps thought it would be good enough to lead.

“I wouldn’t have thought it would be eight shots behind,” Johnson said.

Brooks Koepka, the American who is carving his way through the European Tour, birdied his last hole for a 68 and joined the group at 2-under 138 with Johnson, Brendon de Jonge (70) and former PGA champion Keegan Bradley, who played in the same group with Kaymer and rallied for a 69.

“He’s as dialed it as I’ve seen,” Bradley said.

The U.S. Open record for largest 36-hole lead is six shots by McIlroy at Congressional and by Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach in 2000, when he won by 15 shots.

A group of players was trying to at least keep in close in the afternoon.

Kevin Na reached 4 under and was on the back nine, with Brandt Snedeker, Matt Kuchar and Brendon Todd close behind. Phil Mickelson was tied for second – that should sound familiar – early in the second round until he fell back with a pair of bogeys.

Mickelson is trying to win the U.S. Open after a record six runner-up finishes. Kaymer put a damper on those hopes.

“Martin seems to be playing a different golf course,” Koepka said. “Ten under is incredible.”

Kaymer already won the PGA Championship in 2010 at Whistling Straits, and he added the next best thing to a major last month at The Players Championship. It’s tough for any golfer to make headlines in Germany, especially in a World Cup year.

At least Germany doesn’t start in Brazil until Monday.

“That’s the first game, so maybe I got a little bit of some … things in the newspapers about me,” Kaymer said. “Football is our biggest sport, and I can’t wait to watch the first game. I think golf, it’s not that important, but not much I can do. I can just try my best and hopefully I can put myself out there.”

And if were to win?

“It will probably last until Monday, 12 o’clock, and then that’s it,” he said with a smile.

This is the “Germanator” everyone expected when he won the PGA Championship, and then a year later rose to No. 1 in the world. Kaymer felt his game was not complete enough, so he set out to develop a draw – his natural shot is a fade – and it took two years of lonely hours on the range to get it right.

At the moment, he can do no wrong.

Each time he looked to be in trouble, Kaymer escaped. He drove toward the lip of a bunker on the 14th and did well just to reach the front of the green, some 70 feet away. The long putt on the turtleback greens Donald Ross created was so difficult that his first putt nearly ran off the putting surface. He made a 12-footer for par.

Kaymer felt tired toward the end of the round, and it showed. He hit into bunkers on the sixth and seventh holes, and both times blasted out to short range. He also converted a difficult two-putt from the front of the eighth green.

He spent the whole day going forward. Now, everyone else is going to need him to come back to have any chance.

Kaymer doesn’t want to change his strategy.

“Because if you think of defending anything, then you’re pulling back, and that’s never really a good thing,” he said. “You just want to keep going. You want to keep playing. You want to challenge yourself. If you can stay aggressive and hit the right shots. And that’s quite nice that it’s a battle against yourself.”

That’s what this U.S. Open is right now. A one-man show.

Graham DeLaet, the only Canadian on the course this week, carded a pair of 75’s in the opening rounds to end the day at 10 over par.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Graeme McDowell watched countryman and playing partner Rory McIlroy boom shot after shot, attacking the treacherous greens at Pinehurst No. 2 every chance he got.

Was McDowell tempted to try the same?

Not at all.

McDowell hardly dazzled with the way he struck the ball but kept putting it right where he wanted, setting up a 2-under 68 that left him solidly in contention at the U.S. Open on Thursday.

“I spent the last few days just preparing myself mentally for the challenge, really knowing that this golf course wasn’t going to give much and it was only going to take,” said McDowell, looking for the second Open title of his career after winning at Pebble Beach in 2010.

He stumbled only once with a bogey at the 529-yard fourth, the longest par 4 at Pinehurst. He bounced right back with an eagle at the par-5 fifth, made his lone birdie of the round at the 14th, and put down par on everything else.

McDowell held a share of the lead much of the day, until Martin Kaymer birdied three of the last five holes for a 65.

Still, this was just the sort of round McDowell had in mind when coming up with a game plan.

“It wasn’t my best ball-striking display,” he said. “You don’t have to strike it amazing around here. You just have to position the ball correctly at all times.”

The 34-year-old from Northern Ireland played in a group with two other former U.S. Open champions, McIlroy and Webb Simpson.

McIlroy kept hitting it farther than his countryman, which is usually the case. But that wasn’t a huge advantage on a course with narrow fairways tinged with brown at the edges, areas that presented all sorts of potential hazards and sloping greens that send most approach shots sliding away from the cup.

McIlroy settled for a 71.

“I played the golf course very conservatively, if you compare my round to Rory’s round,” McDowell said. “I generally kept the ball exactly where I wanted going into the flags, short of a lot of greens but on the correct side of most of the flags.”

After the bogey at No. 4, McDowell unleashed one of his better tee shots of the round at the next hole. That was followed by a 3-wood that spun up onto the green, stopping about 12 feet short of the flag. He sank the uphill putt for an unexpected eagle.

At most of the holes, McDowell was content to just grind it out. He is aware that the last two Open champions, Justin Rose a year ago and Simpson in 2012, claimed the title with scores that were above par. McDowell certainly remembers his own victory four years ago, when even-par was good enough for the victory.

“This golf course is difficult and good shots are going to finish in bad spots,” he said. “I think the winner of this tournament is going to make 10 to 12 birdies, maximum. That’s only three a round. That’s what I mean by preparing yourself mentally for the fact that you’re not going to get a pat on the back very often at this golf course.”

McIlroy was impressed by McDowell’s performance.

“He gets the most out of it, misses it in the right places, has a really good short game and holes big momentum putts to keep his run going,” McIlroy said. “He always seems to be able to make those. This is his ideal sort of tournament – grinding it out and the winning score not being too much under par. He knows how to do that well.”

PINEHURST, N.C. – There’s no escaping the feeling that Phil Mickelson is setting himself up for another fall.

It’s happened a half-dozen times before at the U.S. Open, almost always following the same script. Mickelson digs a foothold near the top of the leaderboard in the opening round, hangs on, hangs on and then plays the last few holes on Sunday a stroke or three on the wrong side of par. Inevitably, somebody else squeezes by and instead of a trophy, he takes home another “best supporting actor” title.

Almost on cue, Lefty shot an even-par 70 on his first competitive tour across the scruffy, renovated Pinehurst No. 2 layout, and predicted once again this could be the year.

“This is a special tournament, a tournament that means a lot to me,” he began. “I don’t know if it will be this week or next year or the year after. I do still have a hundred percent confidence that I’ll be able to break through and get one.

“I do feel, though, that this tournament gives me a great chance on this golf course,” he added, “because I don’t feel like I have to be perfect.”

Mickelson was close to that Thursday with nearly every club in the bag, save the putter. He even surprised himself by hitting every fairway every time he leaned on his normally wayward driver. Golfers like to say they make their own breaks, but Mickelson caught one early in the day after a report in The New York Times said federal authorities found no evidence that he had traded in the stock of a company, Clorox, that is part of an insider-trading probe.

The same report said Mickelson, as well as famed sports gambler Billy Walters, are still under investigation over separate well-timed trades they made in a second company, Dean Foods, in 2012 just before its stock soared. Mickelson was asked about that after the round and he replied the way he has since reports that both the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission were looking into those trades first surfaced.

“Like I said before, with an investigation going on, I’m not going to comment any further on it. But I’ll continue to say that I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”

When pressed about whether he’d pocketed $1 million by trading Dean Foods’ stock, he essentially gave the same answer: “I do have a lot to say and I will say it at the right time.”

And either way, Mickelson said a few moments later that he’s got more than enough on his plate at the moment.

“It hasn’t affected my preparation or anything for this tournament. I know I haven’t done anything wrong,” he said, “so I haven’t been stressed about it.”

We’ll take Mickelson at his word on this one, since his history at the U.S. Open – let alone at this venue – is the kind of stuff that winds up on the cutting-room floor of a horror flick. He was playing alongside the late Payne Stewart here in 1999 and getting ready for a playoff when Stewart rolled in a 15-footer for par and the win.

Mickelson’s wife, Amy, was very pregnant when he arrived and his caddie, Bones Mackay, carried a beeper that had it gone off, would have sent Lefty scrambling to the nearest airport for the next flight home. Turns out his daughter, Amanda, who’s now almost 15, was born later that day, and just like the rest of us, all she knows is that when comes to the U.S. Open, her father has a funny way of finishing second a lot.

Mickelson figures the fastest way to end that streak is to get hot with the putter. He’s switched to the claw grip for this tournament, and while it didn’t hurt his chances inside 10 feet or so, he didn’t make anything longer and Pinehurst’s turtleback greens rarely let approach shots settle any closer. How long he stays with the new grip is anybody’s guess.

“It might be weeks, it might be months, it might be days, hours, I don’t know,” Mickelson said. “It’s just one of those things. Last year I putted just so well for a year and a half, and I’ve kind of over-done what I was doing. I’ve got to kind of settle back in.”

Mickelson turns 44 on June 16 and isn’t likely to master too many new tricks. He’s already captured the other three legs of the Grand Slam and fortuitously, the absence of rough and the premium on chipping here now make Pinehurst his kind of setup. But he’s not about to refuse help from any quarter.

On the par-5 fifth, Mickelson’s approach putt rolled over the marker of playing partner Matthew Fitzpatrick, an amateur who’s young enough to be his son, and stopped right in front of it.

“He came over and he said, `Is that all right there?'” Fitzpatrick said, “and he was obviously joking, but I didn’t think he was. I said, `I’m going to need that moved.’ And he said, `Don’t worry, I’m only joking.'”

A moment later, Mickelson told Fitzpatrick that hitting the marker had probably saved him from rolling the ball another two feet past the hole.

“I guess if he does win,” Fitzpatrick said, brightening, “I’ve contributed to it a little bit.”

PINEHURST, N.C. – Much to his delight, Martin Kaymer discovered Pinehurst No. 2 was even more different than he imagined in the U.S. Open.

This wasn’t the beast of a course that Kaymer and so many other players were expecting.

This was a day for scoring.

Kaymer made six birdies Thursday afternoon, three on the final five holes, that sent the 29-year-old German to the lowest score in three Opens held at Pinehurst No. 2. He made a 6-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a 5-under 65 and a three-shot lead.

“It was more playable than I thought,” he said. “I think that made a big difference mentally, that you feel like there are actually some birdies out there, not only bogeys.”

So much was made of the new look at No. 2, which was restored to its old look from more than a half-century ago. There also was plenty of talk that this U.S. Open would be as tough as any U.S. Open.

When he finished his final day of practice Wednesday under a broiling sun, Kaymer was asked what it would take to win.

“I said plus 8 because the way the golf course played on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” he said. “But obviously, they softened the conditions a little bit so it was more playable. So hopefully, I’m not right with the plus 8. I would be disappointed.”

Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell took the conservative route on his way to a 68 that featured 15 pars, one bogey, one birdie and one eagle. He was joined by Kevin Na, Brendon de Jonge and Fran Quinn, a 49-year-old who last played a U.S. Open in 1996, when Tiger Woods was still an amateur.

“This was a golf course where I spent the last few days just preparing myself mentally for the challenge, really, knowing that this golf course wasn’t going to give much and it was only going to take,” McDowell said. “I’m assuming they put some water on this place this morning. And we were able to take advantage of that a little bit early on and actually think about getting at some of those flags.”

Brandt Snedeker, who had a chance at 30 on his front nine, had to settle for being part of a large group at 69 that included 20-year-old Jordan Spieth, Henrik Stenson, Matt Kuchar and Dustin Johnson.

The 15 players to break par were the most for an opening round at the U.S. Open since 24 players did it at rain-softened Olympia Fields in 2003.

Phil Mickelson, in his latest quest to win the one major keeping him from the career Grand Slam, shot a 70. He was among the early starters, who received additional help by cloud cover that kept moisture in the greens. Mickelson doesn’t expect Pinehurst to be any easier the rest of the week.

“There was some low scoring out there – some good scoring, I should say,” he said. “Anything around par, it’s usually a good score.”

Masters champion Bubba Watson was among the exceptions. He shot a 76 and said, “This course is better than me right now.”

The sun broke through shortly before noon and began to bake the course, though not enough to stop Kaymer. He watched some of the tournament on television in the morning, and he was particularly struck by the sight of Stenson’s 6-iron into the par-3 15th only rolling out a few feet. Kaymer expected it to roll off the green.

“Last night I thought that it’s going to be very, very firm in the afternoon,” he said. “But actually, it was more playable than I thought.”

Not everyone was able to take advantage.

Defending champion Justin Rose had a 72, making his bid a little tougher to become the first repeat winner in 25 years. Adam Scott, the world No. 1 who has been formidable in every major the last two years except the U.S. Open, had a 73.

Scott wasn’t about to panic. Pinehurst only figures to get more difficult.

“You know how it’s going to be at the end of the week,” Scott said. “We’re going to be looking at even par, or something around that.”

Kaymer picked up four birdies with relative ease – three wedges to inside 3 feet, and a high draw with a 3-wood to about 20 feet on the par-5 fifth for a two-putt birdie. A few longer putts at the end really dressed up the score.

He hit a 6-iron at the flag on the 16th hole and made a 12-foot birdie putt, and then hit another 6-iron at the par-3 17th to about 10 feet for birdie.

Kaymer tied the course record with a 63 in the opening round when he won The Players Championship last month, ending a drought of some 18 months. That only boosted his confidence, and the 65 on Thursday only adds to it.

Even so, he realizes it’s only one round, and that the course probably won’t be so kind or gentle the rest of the way.

“I would have never expected myself to shoot such a low round at Pinehurst … but it’s a good round of golf,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting it. I’m not freaking out about it. It’s the first round of a very, very important tournament. I put myself so far in a good position, but we have three rounds to go. The golf course can change a lot.

“If other people want to make more out of it, it’s fine,” he said. “But for me, it’s a great start into one of the most important weeks of the year.”

Canada’s lone Canadian in the field – Graham DeLaet – opened with a 5-over 75.

Defending champion Justin Rose, who held off Mickelson a year ago at Merion, shot 72. There hasn’t been a repeat winner in this championship since Curtis Strange in 1988-89.

POINTE CLAIRE, Que. – Sixty years after iconic pro golfer Pat Fletcher became the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open, his namesake foundation continues to thrive, with an array of initiatives planned to pay homage to the 60th anniversary of Fletcher’s historic victory and raise awareness about the Foundation, so that more young students might benefit from its support.

Pat Fletcher was the last Canadian to win the Canadian Open in 1954 – a victory that also makes him the only Canadian player to win the championship in 100 years.

In an amazing twist of fate, this year’s RBC Canadian Open will be played at Royal Montreal, the place where Fletcher spent 20 years serving as Head Professional. Graham DeLaet, Mike Weir, David Hearn, Stephen Ames and other Canadian notables, will be in the field looking to change the course of Canadian golf history and become the next Canadian to be crowned champion.

Regardless of when the next Canadian champion is crowned, Fletcher’s winning legacy lives on through the work of The Pat Fletcher Scholarship Foundation, a Foundation his son, Ted, co-founded almost 30 years ago. With the tagline “Making a Difference”, The Foundation is committed to giving deserving young Canadians the financial assistance they need to pursue a post-secondary education.

“While golf was always my father’s primary focus, he was equally passionate about the importance of education,” said Ted Fletcher, Chair of the Pat Fletcher Scholarship Foundation. “He took a genuine interest in working with junior golfers to help them reach their full potential, both on and off the golf course.”

The Pat Fletcher Scholarship Foundation has the following initiatives planned to pay tribute to the 60th anniversary:

• The Foundation is increasing the amount of its financial aid to $60,000 in 2014, including a one-time anniversary scholarship. Since the establishment of The Pat Fletcher Scholarship Foundation in 1985, the Foundation has awarded nearly $500,000 in financial assistance to students from all across Canada.
• The Foundation is producing a limited edition Canadian postage stamp, featuring a 1954 photo of Pat Fletcher winning the Seagram’s Cup.
• Exclusive video footage pulled from the PGA of Canada archives covering the highlights of his 1954 win will be released on the Foundation’s website at patfletcher.com.

PINEHURST, N.C. – The one thing Rory McIlroy won’t lack heading into this U.S. Open is advice. In the few weeks since his breakup with girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, only some of it has been worth much.

Gary Player told him to lay low. Jack Nicklaus told him not to be afraid to change the way he plays, even in the middle of a round. Smartly, he only followed up with one of them.

“Do you just ring him up,” a reporter asked about McIlroy’s budding relationship with Nicklaus, “and say, `I’m popping in?'”

“I don’t ring him up,” McIlroy chuckled, “I ring his secretary up and say, `I’d like to schedule a meeting, please.’ But it’s been great to spend some time with him. I feel like I’ve got a really good rapport.”

The two had lunch in Florida a week after the Memorial, the PGA Tour stop where Nicklaus plays the gracious host but isn’t shy about asking tough questions. Not about relationships, mind you, unless you count questions about where to slot the club at the top of the backswing.

“He said to me, he goes, `How the hell can you shoot 63 (in the first round) and then 78 (in the second)?'” McIlroy recalled. “I said, `I wasn’t meaning to, Jack. I’m trying not to.'”

That began a conversation between the two on the subject of trust. Nicklaus told him the moment he sensed his swing was sliding off the rails in that second round, he would have made a change “right then and there.”

“The mental strength to be able to do that,” McIlroy paused, still marveling at the idea.

“Hopefully,” he added a moment later, “some of those little nuggets of wisdom that he passed on to me might help this week.”

Success came so fast for the 25-year-old Northern Irishman it was easy to assume he’d mastered most of golf’s lessons. But it took an old soul like Nicklaus to point out where some of the big gaps remained.

When McIlroy wins, he usually wins big, running away from the field the way he did at the 2011 U.S. Open at Congressional. What he has yet to prove is whether he has the patience and toughness to grind out victories, a trait that served Nicklaus and Tiger Woods well over decades. If nothing else, the back-and-forth with Nicklaus has put the idea in his head.

“It’s going to be a test of patience,” McIlroy said about Pinehurst No. 2. “And I think I am better equipped than I was a few years ago. The U.S. Open I won was a very … was abnormal. It was wet. It was low scoring. I haven’t won a tournament whenever it’s been like this. That’s why I’m relishing the challenge.

“It’s conditions that I haven’t won in before and I’d love to be able to prove to myself, but also prove to other people that I can win in different conditions. It’s a great opportunity to do that this week.”

While Nicklaus will be McIlroy’s model this week, he hasn’t ignored Player’s advice altogether. In the wake of his very public breakup with Wozniacki, he has lowered his social media profile and already won once. He concedes that balancing his public life he has with the private one he wants is an act he’s still working on.

“It’s nice when you get out on the golf course because you’ve got five hours of you’re just out there with your clubs, with your caddie, trying to shoot the best score possible,” McIlroy said. “That’s the approach that I’m sort of adopting from now until whenever.”

The conversation with Nicklaus appears to be taking hold. Much harder to learn will be the desire that catapulted Nicklaus to 18 major victories – the stubborn pride that made him back off a 4-footer on the last hole of a tournament he wasn’t going to win even in the final years of his career, because it mattered to him to shoot 77 instead of 78.

“Golf has sort of been a nice release for me the past few weeks. I just want to try to keep focused on that,” McIlroy said.

PINEHURST, N.C. – No matter how tough a U.S. Open course looks, good scores are available to someone.

Sometimes, it might not be a player anyone expects. The last time the U.S. Open was at Pinehurst No. 5, Olin Browne opened with a 67. This was inspiring because Browne nearly withdrew after one round of qualifying, stuck it out to set an example for his son, and shot 59 to earn his ticket to the U.S. Open. He hung in there, playing in the second-to-last group in the final round until he shot 80 on Sunday.

For so many others, the crash comes much sooner.

Jay Don Blake opened with a 66 at Olympia Fields in 2003, and followed that with a 77. Branden Grace shot 70 at Merion last year and was three shots out of the lead, only to post an 83 on Friday and he was on his way home. Stewart Cink and Steve Lowery each shot 70 at Bethpage Black in 2002, just three shots behind Tiger Woods. Both shot 82 the next day.

The most common phrase in golf is that you can’t win a tournament in the opening round, but you can lose it.

Consider five players who lost the U.S. Open in the second round:

5. TOM WEISKOPF

Weiskopf, who would go on to win the British Open in 1973, made the cut the first five times he played in the U.S. Open. And he got off to a solid start at Merion in 1971, opening with a 70 and was three shots out of the lead.

He followed with an 83 on Friday and missed the cut.

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4. TOM BYRUM

Byrum’s only PGA Tour victory came in the 1989 Kemper Open. He opened with a 68 at Hazeltine in the 1991 U.S. Open, leaving him only one shot out of the lead behind Nolan Henke and Payne Stewart, the eventual winner.

On Friday, Byrum soared to an 80 and missed the cut.

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3. JUSTIN HICKS

Hicks was No. 722 in the world ranking and playing on the Nationwide Tour when he qualified for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Oddly enough, a Justin Hicks played at Torrey in the Buick Invitational earlier that year, only he was a club pro from San Diego.

Regardless, Hicks and Kevin Streelman stole the show from Tiger Woods in the opening round. They each shot 68 and shared the lead.

That was the highlight of the week for Hicks. He followed with an 80 on Friday, and wound up in a tie for 74th.

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2. MIKE REID

Reid is known as a straight driver – his nickname was “Radar” – and for his sad collapse in the 1989 PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes when he lost to Payne Stewart.

But there was a small measure of precedence.

Reid was still an amateur when he played in the 1976 U.S. Open at Atlanta Athletic Club. He opened with a 67 and took the outright lead. And that was as close as he got to U.S. Open glory the rest of the week. In the second round, he shot 81 and wound up in a tie for 50th.

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1. PHIL MICKELSON

The U.S. Open has been tougher on Phil Mickelson than any other player. His six runner-up finishes are a record, and it’s now the only major keeping him from the career Grand Slam. Perhaps he should have seen this coming.

A PGA Tour winner when he was still in college, Mickelson turned pro when he arrived at Pebble Beach for the 1992 U.S. Open.

He started with a 68, just two shots out of the lead held by Gil Morgan. It looked like the start of a good relationship between Mickelson and his national championship.

But on Friday, he opened with a bogey and made triple bogey on the third hole. He shot 81 and missed the cut.

PINEHURST, N.C. – Adam Scott is trying to build a golf game that can travel to any golf course in the world for any tournament.

He can only hope it knows the way to Pinehurst No. 2. Or any U.S. Open course, for that matter.

Scott goes into this U.S. Open as one of the favorites because of his game, his form and his world ranking. The Australian didn’t reach No. 1 in the world by accident. He has won six times around the world in the last two years and really thrived in the majors.

He won the Masters last year for his first major. He could easily have won the last two U.S. Opens. He was in the hunt at the PGA Championship last year at Oak Hill.

But the toughest test in golf?

Scott hasn’t broken 70 at the U.S. Open in five years. He has missed the cut as often as he has made it – six times each. And in those six times he completed 72 holes, he has yet to finish under par. His best performance as a tie for 15th.

“I’ve talked to you all about 10 years of playing pretty average, by my own expectations in majors, and tried to improve that the last few years,” Scott said Wednesday. “And I think I’ve done a good job – but maybe not quite as good at the U.S. Open.”

Scott is riding some reasonably good momentum. In his first week at No. 1 in the world, he won at Colonial. A week later, he was tied for the lead at the Memorial with seven holes to play until he put one tee shot in the water and took two shots to get out of a bunker.

Even so, he has no complaints with his game.

Scott is among the best drivers in golf and has been for the last two years. That would seem to suit him well at a U.S. Open, where accuracy is always a premium. His putting comes and goes – not even the long putter has cured that inconsistency. But the rest of his game is well-rounded.

“Maybe it’s coincidence that I haven’t had my best stuff at a U.S. Open,” Scott said. “But I certainly feel like where my game is at now, and the past few years, I should be able to compete here. I’m trying to build a game that can play anywhere. So it’s a good week for me to turn the corner and get in contention.

“I think this course sets up well to me.”

He plays the opening two rounds in what has been described as the “Masters” grouping – with Bubba Watson and Charl Schwartzel. Scott said the only similarities between Augusta National and Pinehurst No. 2 are the options around the green – chipping, putting, pitching – and knowing where not to miss.

“Patience will be tested,” he said.

His patience already has been tested plenty in the U.S. Open.

PINEHURST, N.C. – When Erik Compton strolls up to the first tee at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday, he’ll be in some unfamiliar territory.

The only other time he played in one of golf’s biggest events was four years ago.

He missed the cut.

But if you’re expecting Compton to be overwhelmed by this U.S. Open moment, think again. This guy has faced much more daunting challenges than a major championship – such as undergoing two heart transplants.

“I’ve been through some tough times,” said Compton in what qualifies as a colossal understatement. “I’m just happy to be out here playing and feeling strong.”

Compton is the only golfer at Pinehurst on heart No. 3, which gives him a unique perspective.

“There’s something to be said for going through what I’ve gone through,” he said. “When you step on the tee, you’re not intimidated by other people, you’re not intimidated by the situation.”

Diagnosed with heart disease as a child, Compton received his first transplant at age 12. Sixteen years later, he suffered a major heart attack but managed to drive himself to the hospital quickly enough to extend his life with another transplant.

Now 34, he has qualified for his second U.S. Open, giving him a chance to promote a cause that is certainly dear to him – organ donation – while inspiring others to keep pursuing their dreams even when life deals them a cruel hand.

“Most people don’t survive a widow-maker heart attack,” Compton said, referring to the ominous nickname for the condition that nearly claimed his life in 2008.

Yet there he was on Tuesday, playing a practice round with good friend Ernie Els and two other major champions from South Africa, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. As the group walked away from the 18th tee, someone shouted out, “Go Dawgs!” – a reference to Compton’s college days at the University of Georgia.

Compton looked as calm as could be. That doesn’t figure to change when the tournament begins.

“There’s no doubt that’s one of his advantages,” said Charles DeLucca, who has been coaching Compton since around the time of the first transplant. “Adrenaline is one thing, but stress isn’t stress to him. He’s been through the works.”

Unless one knows the details of the story, there is no way to tell that Compton was so close to death not so long ago. He looks like just another player trying to deal with Pinehurst’s treacherous greens and punishing waste areas.

Even Schwartzel, who had some idea of Compton’s ordeal, wasn’t entirely up to speed on the enormity of it.

“It’s hard to grasp,” Compton said. “Charl actually asked me, `Did they take out the whole heart?'”

While that may be someone else’s heart in his chest, the willpower and determination is all Compton’s. There are guys who would’ve given up on this dream long ago, even without a life-threatening malady along the way.

After turning pro in 2001, Compton struggled for the better part of a decade to break through. He spent most of those years on the Nationwide and Canadian tours, occasionally turning up at a PGA Tour event. The ailing heart surely made it harder for him to realize his true potential, though the Florida native spends little time dwelling on what might have been.

“I don’t know how life would’ve worked out,” Compton said. “We all take different paths.”

He’s certainly got no complaints at the moment. Compton finally earned his Tour card in 2012, went through qualifying school to keep it the following year, and now seems to be establishing himself as a solid, consistent pro. He’s already won more than $863,000 this season, by far the best of his career with a good chunk of the schedule still remaining. That includes fifth-place showings at both Bay Hill and New Orleans.

“A lot of people have transplants but go on to be successful at other things,” Compton said. “I’m happy that I’ve been able to be a success in sports, competing with the elite of the elite, and to make a living doing it.”

Golf was the last thing on Compton’s mind during that awful day in 2008. Fortunately, he was aware of how his body should feel and knew that he needed help as soon as possible. He arrived at the hospital losing vision, struggling to stay conscious and coughing up blood.

“I was basically minutes away from dying,” Compton said. “People say that dying is peaceful. Well, maybe when you’re dead it’s peaceful. But the process of having a widow-maker heart attack is very painful.”

The odds of survival were slim enough – even slimmer for someone who had already undergone a transplant.

But Compton held on, got another heart, and got back to living.

The U.S. Open?

No problem.

“It’s amazing,” Schwartzel said. “It certainly puts golf in perspective very quickly.”