UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. — Going into Day 1 of the 2015 U.S. Open, there was some debate as to whether or not prodigious length off the tee would be an edge. That question won't be answered fully until the last putt drops on Sunday, but a couple of bombers took the lead through Round 1 at Chambers Bay.
Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson shot 5-under 65s on Thursday to hold a one-stroke edge over Patrick Reed. Matt Kuchar is another shot behind, in with 67, as is Ben Martin and amateur Brian Campbell.
Meanwhile, Tiger Woods got off to a rough start, bogeying four of the first six holes en route to a brutal 10-over 80.
Johnson, who started on No. 10, had an opportunity on the final hole to shoot 63, which would match the lowest score ever recorded in a men's major championship. However, a poor tee shot to the difficult par-3 ninth left him bunkered and unable to save par, leading to that final tally of 65.
Stenson finished with a flurry, making birdies on four of his final five holes to surge into a share of the lead.*
[Slideshow: Round 1of the U.S. Open]
Reed, who also began on the 10th, got off to a hot start, too. He turned in 4 under par and seemed in control of his game. However, he sputtered on the second nine, matching a pair of birdies with a pair of bogeys to come in with 66.*
While the good scoring was a surprise, an even bigger surprise is that a pair of 50-somethings turned in under-par rounds. Both U.S. Senior Open champion Colin Montgomerie and the seemingly ageless Miguel Angel Jimenez shot 1-under 69, matching Phil Mickelson's morning score.*
The USGA doesn't like red numbers. So after scores of 5-under, expect executive director Mike Davis to tighten the screws on Chambers Bay ... which might actually mean doing absolutely nothing to the course.
Dustin Johnson's nearly flawless first round almost came to a screeching halt on the par-5 eighth. After a chip shot from just short of the green rolled its way into the thick grass near a bunker, Johnson was staring double bogey square in the face ... until he did this:
He drained the putt for par and if not for a bogey on nine (his 18th hole) he would have been bogey-free.
In the course of an even-par 70, Bubba Watson had five birdies to go along with a pair of double bogeys. One of those came on the par-4 10th, when this happened:


In the FIFA World Cup, there's always the Group of Death. On Thursday, Tiger Woods' threesome was the Group of Death at Chambers Bay.
Woods and playing partners Rickie Fowler and Louis Oosthuizen scored a combined 28 over par. That's a bad three-ball. Fowler actually shot one worse than Tiger's 80, which is stunning considering the pre-tournament buzz surrounding The Players champion.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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