SAN DIEGO - Journeyman Kevin Streelman's stay atop the U.S. Open leaderboard was only an overnight thing. A triple-bogey early in the second round Friday took care of that. Nobody was making much of a move to take his spot, either. Luke Donald and 2006 Open champion Geoff Ogilvy were the only players on the course early in the second round to get into red numbers. Each was in the middle of his back nine at 1-under, two strokes behind the other surprising first-round leader, Justin Hicks.
Donald and Ernie Els both spent some time at 2-under. Els opened with a birdie to get there briefly but made two bogeys to fall back to par after 10 holes. Playing alongside Els was Ogilvy, who got to 1-under after a 25-foot, downhill birdie putt on No. 5 and then followed with six straight pars.
Hicks, the Nationwide Tour journeyman who took the surprising first-round lead with a 3-under 68, had an afternoon tee time. So did the U.S. Open's glamour threesome - Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, ranked 1, 2 and 3 in the world.
So much was expected from that group, but they didn't live up to the hype on Thursday. Woods opened with a double bogey and shot 72. Mickelson finished at 71 and Scott at 73.
"We're all going to make mistakes out here," Woods said.
In at 2-under after the first day were Rocco Mediate, Stuart Appleby and Eric Axley, who came into the tournament ranked 503rd in the world.
Hicks was ranked 722 and Streelman 608. Their rise to the top after one day was an instructive example of the way the U.S. Open - the toughest test in golf - can often muddy the line between great and good over the span of a weekend.
Streelman got a good feel for how Torrey Pines could give, then take away. He was still 3 under heading into the third hole Friday, when he hit his tee shot into a bunker, flew the second shot over the green and down a slick hill, chipped up and then three-putted from 30 feet for a 6.
He made up one of those strokes with a birdie on the par-5 ninth and was even par through 14 holes.
Streelman was ranked No. 1,354 early in the year before making it into the Buick Invitational in January, right here at Torrey Pines, as an alternate.
He found out he was in the tournament six minutes before his tee time. Two days later, he was playing in the final twosome, alongside Woods. Streelman finished tied for 29th and saw his ranking climb 700 notches - a good experience to build on for the U.S. Open.
"I do enjoy this golf course," he said.
He played the first round in front of a nearly empty course, finishing late in the afternoon, well after many in the Woods-Mickelson-Scott gallery had gone home for the evening.
"We were all in our own little area," Mickelson said of the threesome. "When you're tackling a U.S. Open golf course, it's so tough that you're trying to just be in your own world and play it strategically the best you can, hit the best shots."
Like Streelman, Justin Hicks also played in the Buick Invitational, but strangely enough, not the same Justin Hicks.
The one who played here in January is a club pro in San Diego, who made the tournament on a sponsor's exemption. He came back for the U.S. Open just to watch. He had a beer and a sandwich and watched his namesake play a few holes. Next thing he knew, there was his name atop the leaderboard.
Who'd have figured?
"Hopefully people aren't too surprised, at least my good friends," said Hicks, the one who shot the 68. "I thought it was a pretty good round."
Tuesday
May 6th, 2025
3:24PM
