Graeme McDowell emerged from a tightly packed field to snatch the early clubhouse lead in the US Open on Friday while several top players battled with the challenging Pebble Beach course.

Pebble Beach stymied the world’s top two golfers as Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson failed to find a birdie on Thursday in the first round of the US Open championship.
England’s Paul Casey, Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge and American Shaun Micheel shared the first-round lead on two-under 69, squeezing past a group that had held sway on one-under 70.

Arjun Atwal, the lone Indian in fray, played two practice rounds with buddy and World No.1 Tiger Woods but will have the American duo of Jason Gore and Jim Herman for company in the first two rounds of the US Open.

Ten years on, Tiger Woods’ majestic US Open victory at Pebble Beach still sparks awe. It launched the run of major success that made Woods the first golfer to hold all four major titles at once.