Golfing gods conspire against Harrington

US Open: Sometimes, a golfer is allowed to wonder why the golfing gods gain pleasure from the misfortune of others. In the case of Pádraig Harrington, such misgivings came early on in a first round of the US Open at Torrey Pines and, by the end, he surely wished he could erase each one of the 78 strokes he took to negotiate the cliff-top course and start all over again.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn't. And, on a day when two unlikely lads in the shape of qualifiers Justin Hicks and Kevin Streelman led after opening rounds of 68, three under, Harrington's misdemeanours - which included three double bogeys in his round - effectively meant his latest quest for a major title had ended almost as soon as it had started.

Much of Harrington's woes materialised on the back nine - where he endured a run that featured four bogeys, two double bogeys and two birdies that only served to tease - but, to be honest, he must have known it wouldn't be his day from as early as the Par 3 third, the most dramatic hole of all on this course seeking to prove itself as a major championship venue.

There, the Dubliner's tee shot tantalisingly found the green only to roll, slowly at first, towards the bank before disappearing down into the wasteland where signs warn against venturing due to the presence of rattlesnakes. "I didn't think it would roll down there, not when the ball pitched six feet, if that, from the hole," Harrington later admitted.

But roll the ball did, eventually coming to rest beside a tangly bush. Rather than take a penalty for an unplayable lie, Harrington decided to play back up to the green. He did succeed in getting the ball on to the surface, however it came to rest some 60 feet away . . . and, a three putt later, he was signing for a five (a double bogey) that wiped out, and more, the birdie he had claimed at the first.

Still, with 15 holes left to play, Harrington had plenty of time to address the damage. It's just that he couldn't do it. On the two occasions that he used five-wood for safety off the tee rather than a driver that had actually worked well for most of the round, Harrington was heavily penalised: he incurred double bogeys on the 14th and 16th, which left a sour taste in his mouth as he reflected afterwards on the uphill challenge he faces just to survive the midway cut.

"Sure I'm disappointed that I scored so badly. I struggled all day," he said. "I knew the greens were going to be difficult in the afternoon and I just didn't chip the ball close enough all day. I was happy with the way I played, until (reaching) the greens where I got myself into trouble."

Robert Allenby, who had played in the group ahead of Harrington, attested that the greens were "the bumpiest" he had ever played on, anywhere. Harrington, though, refused to reach that level of criticism, simply stating that greens in the afternoon were "always going to be more difficult".

Of the task ahead, Harrington said: "I'm certainly not looking to play any better than I did today, although I'll be quite happy to hole some putts and get a few breaks to keep the momentum going . . . (shooting a low score) is certainly doable and the greens will be a lot better in the morning too. So, a good score is definitely on."

He added: "As I said, I had three double bogeys on three of the easier holes which is a little disappointing. But it is a tough course and when things are not going for you, that is what happens . . . normally I am scrappy until I get to the greens. Today, it was the other way."

Harrington was not alone of the major champions to struggle. Angel Cabrera, the US Open champion, had a 79; US Masters champion Trevor Immelman shot a 75, while US PGA champion Tiger Woods opened with a 72.

Streelman and Hicks finished the first round in a share of the lead after opening with 68s, one stroke clear of a quartet that featured Geoff Ogilvy, Stuart Appleby, Rocco Mediate and Eric Axley. The leading Europeans were Robert Karlsson and Lee Westwood, who were in a five-strong group on 70, one under.

Collated first round scores in the US Open Championship, Torrey Pines GC, San Diego, California, United States

(USA unless stated, Irish in bold par 71):

68Justin Hicks, Kevin Streelman

69Eric Axley, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Rocco Mediate, Stuart Appleby (Aus)

70Robert Karlsson (Swe), Robert Allenby (Aus), Ernie Els (Rsa), Lee Westwood
(Eng), Rickie Fowler

71Phil Mickelson, Patrick Sheehan, Vijay Singh (Fij), Andres Romero (Arg), Joe
Ogilvie, Luke Donald (Eng), Carl Pettersson (Swe)

72Tiger Woods, Kyle Stanley, Davis Love III, Oliver Wilson (Eng), Casey
Wittenberg, Woody Austin, Ian Leggatt (Can), Stewart Cink, Jon Mills (Can),
Hunter Mahan, Scott Verplank, D.J. Trahan

73Nick Watney, Ross Fisher (Eng), Robert Dinwiddie (Eng), John Mallinger,
Steve Marino, Daniel Chopra (Swe), Derek Fathauer, Brett Quigley, Mike Weir
(Can), Brandt Jobe, Boo Weekley, Steve Stricker, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Adam
Scott (Aus), John Merrick, Matt Kuchar, Camilo Villegas (Col), Tim Clark (Rsa)

74Rodney Pampling (Aus), Todd Hamilton, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn), Aaron Baddeley
(Aus), D.A. Points, Dustin Johnson, Michael Thompson, Anthony Kim, Fredrik
Jacobson (Swe), Jim Furyk, KJ Choi (Kor), Rich Beem, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), Stephen
Ames (Can), Thomas Levet (Fra)

75Chris Kirk, Sean English, Bart Bryant, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Ben Curtis,
Heath Slocum, Charles Howell III, Justin Leonard, Ben Crane, Mark OMeara, Craig
Parry (Aus), Tway Kevin, Jerry Kelly, Pat Perez, Lee Janzen, Jarrod Lyle (Aus),
J.B. Holmes, John Rollins, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa),
Jonathan Byrd

76Peter Tomasulo, Zach Johnson, Andrew Dresser, David Toms, David Hearn (Can),
Charlie Beljan, Dean Wilson, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Alastair Forsyth (Sco), Retief
Goosen (Rsa), Joey Lamielle, Brandt Snedeker, Ross McGowan (Eng), Richard Sterne
(Rsa), Jason Bohn

77Michael Letzig, Robert Garrigus, Jon Turcott, Andrew Svoboda, Bubba Watson,
Chad Campbell, Brad Bryant, Mathew Goggin (Aus), John Ellis, Nick Taylor (Can),
Jesper Parnevik (Swe), Shingo Katayama (Jpn)

78Michael Campbell (Nzl), Soren Hansen (Den), Steve Flesch, Nick Dougherty
(Eng), Scott Piercy, Michael Allen, Jeff Wilson, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Ian Poulter
(Eng), Phillip Archer (Eng), Brian Kortan, Henrik Stenson (Swe), Fernando
Figueroa (Esa), Padraig Harrington (Irl)

79Colin Montgomerie (Sco), Jeff Quinney, Angel Cabrera (Arg), Johan Edfors
(Swe), Paul Casey (Eng), Justin Rose (Eng), DJ Brigman, Artemio-hiromasa
Murakami (Phi), Jay Choi (Kor), Jason Gore

80Scott Sterling, Garrett Chaussard, Kevin Silva, Craig Barlow, Jordan Cox,
Bob Gaus, Hunter Haas

81Rob Rashell, Jeffrey Bors, Jimmy Henderson

82Travis Bertoni

83Gary Wolstenholme (Eng), Bobby Collins, Yohann Benson (Can)

84Chris Stroud, Chris Devlin (NIrl)

86Philippe Gasnier (Bra), Mike Gilmore, Michael Quagliano, Brian Bergstol