England’s Nick Dougherty fired a two under par 68 in rain-softened conditions at Oakmont Country Club to set the early pace in the US Open.

While twice champion Tiger Woods battled to a 71 on one of golf’s toughest layouts, Dougherty carded four birdies and two bogeys for his lowest score in a Major Championship.

“I’m delighted with that,” the 25 year old Englishman said. “I missed a lot of fairways today so two under is a fabulous score here.

“I didn’t play that well from tee to green but my short game was red-hot,” added Dougherty, who took just 11 putts on the back nine. “We had it as good as it can be after the rain softened the course yesterday because you can stop the ball on some of the holes.”

Dougherty, whose maiden European Tour victory came at the 2005 Caltex Singapore Masters, ended his round one clear of fellow European Tour Member Angel Cabrera of Argentina and two ahead of big-hitting American Bubba Watson and Spain’s Jose Maria Olazabal.

Woods was a further stroke adrift, level with fellow Americans Ben Curtis and Olin Browne, holder Geoff Ogilvy of Australia and another Spaniard, Pablo Martin, who opened with a 71 in only his second event as a professional.

World Number One Woods, bidding for a third Major title out of four, made a stumbling start under clear skies.

The 31 year old American bogeyed the par four first after pulling his tee shot into a fairway bunker but immediately recovered by holing a 20 foot birdie putt at the uphill second.

He parred the next three holes before a superb tee shot to 12 feet at the par-three sixth set up another birdie.

Woods, US Open Champion at Pebble Beach in 2000 and at Bethpage Black in 2002, then dropped another shot at the 288 yard eighth, the longest par-three in major history.

His tee shot drifted with the wind into the cavernous greenside bunker on the left, known as Sahara, from where he failed to get up and down to save par.

After reaching the turn in level-par 35, the 12-times major winner missed the fairway off the tee to bogey the 10th and the monster 667-yard 12th before picking up his final shot of the day at the 313-yard 17th where he almost drove the green.

Three-times major winner Phil Mickelson, who has been battling a wrist injury for the last two weeks, was among the late starters.

Source - www.europeantour.com