U.S. Open live updates: Phil Mickelson on top at three-under

Buckle up, because it could be a rollerc-oaster ride at the U.S. Open.

Just ask Lee Westwood.

Hitting a wedge into the 12th green, Westwood watched his shot hit the “wicker� atop the flagstick. If there had been a flag there, the ball might have dropped straight down. But woven fiber isn’t so forgiving.

The ball rebounded way off the green. Westwood, who had moved into a tie for the lead at three-under, finished with hole with a double bogey.

The field has also dealt with weather delays in the morning and afternoon at Merion Golf Club. Phil Mickelson reached the clubhouse early at three-under, leaving a pack of competitors to pursue him at one and two shots back. The hunters included Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Webb Simpson and Rory McIlroy.

Tiger Woods stood at two-over with indications that he might have hurt his left arm hitting out of the rough in the early going.

Players are finding that Merion offers scoring opportunities mixed with holes that can wreck a good round. Ian Poulter finished at one-over with five birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey.

“I always knew this golf course was going to throw birdies at you, and I always knew this golf course was going to throw some bogeys,� he said. “And it’s fun in a kind of up-and-down way.�

USGA officials suspended play for darkness at about 8:20 p.m. EDT, giving players the options of finishing the holes they were on.

Tiger Woods struggles at start of his round | 3:50 p.m.

Mother Nature might have shown some sympathy for Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open.

Hitting out of the rough on the fifth hole, Woods grimaced, looking as if he might have hurt his left arm or wrist. Minutes later, with “dangerous weather� heading into the Ardmore, Pa. area, officials decided to suspend play in the first round.

Earlier, rain forced a three-plus-hour delay at Merion Golf Club.

When horns blew for the second time, players were told to wait at the course, with officials hoping to resume play in about 10 minutes.

USGA officials continued to watch the weather radar -- all those ominous green and yellow splotches drifting across eastern Pennsylvania -- in hopes that play could resume.

Somewhere in the meteorological disturbances there were, apparently, encouraging signs and the tournament was expected to continue at 7 p.m. EDT.

Phil Mickelson and Peter Hedblom stand atop the leaderboard at three-under. Woods was in danger of falling to two-over.

Marquee pairing of Woods, McIlroy and Scott tees off | 3:15 p.m.

Fans had to wait a little longer for their big moment at the U.S. Open on Thursday.

The 1-2-3 pairing of Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott got pushed back by rain delays and the group did not tee off until almost dinnertime at Merion Golf Club.

USGA officials have some history with lumping the world’s top-ranked players into one group for the first and second rounds. Scott was impressed enough to modestly refer to himself as the “third wheel� and McIlroy voiced his appreciation.

“It’s always nice to be a part of a group like that,� he said. “There’s a lot of buzz and a lot of atmosphere around it and it gets you to focus from the first shot.�

Or maybe not.

The top guy did not exactly get off to a sizzling start. Woods looked shaky off the tee and barely missed a couple of salvage putts on Merion’s tricky greens, going one-over through the first four holes.

McIlroy fared better, making birdie on No. 4 to go one-under.

As for that third wheel? Scott nailed his tee shot on No. 3 and made a double-breaker putt, then birdied No. 4 to put his name on the leaderboard at two-under.

“I think this year obviously there’s a lot of focus on Tiger and Rory,� he said. “I know what to expect out there.�

Sergio Garcia jeered in wake of remarks about Tiger Woods | 2:15 p.m.

It’s Philly, so what did you expect?

Sergio Garcia heard a few boos and some heckling during the first round of the U.S. Open in Ardmore, Pa. No big surprise considering the reputation of fans in that part of the world.

Garcia came into the tournament as a controversial figure after feuding with Tiger Woods over the last month and, at one point, uttered a racially insensitive remark about inviting Woods to a dinner of “fried chicken.� Many fans chose to forgive, giving him warm applause, but a few did not.

Angry words weren’t Garcia’s only problem at Merion Golf Club. A double bogey on No. 14 and a quadruple bogey on No. 15 dropped him to seven-over. It took a subsequent eagle to help him finish at four-over.

As for Woods, he got off to a late start thanks to a rain delay of more than three hours.

Teeing off just before 5 p.m., he played in the marquee group of the day with Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott. A leaky drive landed him in the deep stuff and his par attempt on the first green slipped past the cup for a bogey.

Scott and McIlroy, who just missed a birdie putt, finished the first hole at par.

Phil Mickelson, a notoriously slow starter in recent majors, held the first-round lead at 3-under with Luke Donald and Peter Hedblom tied for second at two-under.

Phil Mickelson finishes round at three under | 1:17 p.m.

Slow and sticky -- hardly sounds like the recipe for putting at a typical U.S. Open.

The damp greens have been sluggish at Merion Golf Club on Thursday, but also surprisingly deceptive during the early stages of the first round, and the players atop the leaderboard are the ones who have been making good use of the putter.

Phil Mickelson finished his rain-delayed round at three-under thanks to a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 9. Jerry Kelly stood in second place at two-under, saving par on No. 16 from 50-plus feet.

Despite their leisurely speed -- thanks to days of bad weather -- the Merion greens have proved difficult to read, perhaps because of their variety and the grain of the creeping bentgrass.

U.S. Golf Assn. officials usually look for a putting theme in the courses they choose. Winged Foot with its ridges and rolls. Pebble Beach, small and firm. Pinehurst with its dome shapes.

“Here at Merion, there is no theme,� USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said. “You’ve got big and small. You have ones that slope back to front, side to side, some that are relatively flat, some that have ridges.�

Nicolas Colsaerts, the surprising Mike Weir, amateur Kevin Phelan and Cheng-Tsung Pan were all tied for third at one-under.

“The golf course is playing about as easy as it could and yet Merion is fighting hard,� Mickelson said after his round. “We had soft conditions and still we’re all having a hard time getting under par.�

Phil Mickelson takes the lead | 12:11 p.m.

Phil Mickelson, who has finished second five time, has the lead at the U.S. Open at two-under par.

But check out the rest of the leaderboard. Is that really Mike Weir near the top? How is that possible? Weir’s game has been in tatters in recent years as injuries have knocked the 2003 Masters Champion to No. 967 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Yet ... Weir held a share of the lead at two-under before a bogey at the par-four 18th dropped him to one-under.

The better question: how did Weir get into the U.S. Open?

He went through sectional qualifying in Ohio and lost in a playoff, but was on the stand-by list as an alternate.

The USGA held six spots for anyone who moved into the top 60 of the rankings last Monday. Only Kyle Stanley qualified under those conditions so Weir got one of the alternate spots.

It is his first U.S. Open appearance since 2010. Weir has not won a PGA Tour event since the 2007 Fry’s Open.

What’s in Phil’s bag? No driver but FIVE wedges. What, no 1-iron? No, that was in Ben Hogan’s bag back in 1950.

Just think: Had Mickelson not carried a driver in his bag in 2006, he would have won the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. Mickelson, needing par to win, pulled driver at 18 and hit his shot into a hospitality tent. He ended with a double bogey that handed the trophy to Australian Geoff Ogilvy.

“I am such an idiot,� Mickelson said over and over after the tournament. No one disputed it.

It was one of five second-place finishes for Mickelson at the U.S. Open.

Side note on Winged Foot: When I returned to the hotel after covering the final round, Ogilvy was in the lobby drinking champagne out of the U.S. Open Trophy.

Phil Mickelson on time for a strong start | 11:01 a.m.

Phil Mickelson looks a little haggard after flying all night to make his early-morning tee time. You could detect circles under his eyes and he’ll definitely need a shave when he completes play today.

Mickelson, though, is playing pretty well. He started with a bogey on his first hole, No. 11, but recovered with a birdie at No. 13 and then rolled in a long birdie putt on the par-four first to get to one-under. Mickelson missed another birdie chance on the par-five second hole.

Mickelson was still one-under overall at the top of the hour, one shot behind Tim Clark, Charl Schwartzel and amateur Cheng Tsung Pan.

Mickelson bucked all conventional preparatory thinking when he flew all night from California and arrived at Merion just hours before his 7:11 a.m. EDT tee time.

This is one of the luxuries of being rich. Mickelson flew back to La Jolla this week to attend his daughter’s eighth-grade graduation. He took a big risk in missing his tee time but, say what you will about Phil, he’s always been a family-first guy.

Remember, at the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst, Mickelson wore a beeper and was ready to walk off the course in the event his expectant wife Amy went into labor. He didn’t need to leave and lost an epic battle against Payne Stewart.

Early temper tantrum award: Rory Sabbatini literally ripped his golf glove off his hand after overshooting the green at No. 7.

Hope you didn’t have Sergio Garica or Keegan Bradley in your office pool. Garcia was seven-over par through his first eight holes after making a double at No. 14 and a quadruple-bogey at No. 15.

Garcia started his round at No. 11 and pulled things together a bit with a birdie at No.1.

Bradley, the 2011 PGA champion, made a triple at the par-four 16th and was five over through eight holes.

Rocky start for Sergio Garcia | 10:01 a.m.

They’ve lifted the small-craft warning and ordered the players back on course at Merion after a lengthy morning weather delay.

Tiger Woods doesn’t tee off until 4:48 EDT but is continuing to haunt Sergio Garcia, who has already taken a quadruple-bogey 8 at the par-four 15th hole.

Let’s hope the weather holds, but we’ve been saying for years during thunderlightning rain delays at the U.S. Open that if you want more golf and fewer floods, move the tournament to a home base: California.

We’re not saying all of them: How about three out of every four, and we’ll throw Oakmont or Pinehurst an occasional bone?

You may get fog at Pebble Beach and Torrey Pines, but that’s nothing compared with the slop-filled mud we’re seeing at Merion Golf Club.

The United States Golf Assn. is based in New Jersey, so we think right there you’ve got your answer.

But if the USGA was looking for a quaint “throwback� venue where Ben Hogan once ruled, why didn’t it award this year’s U.S. Open to Riviera Country Club?

Hogan won the U.S. Open at Riviera in 1948, but the course hasn’t hosted a regular-tour major since the PGA in 1995. (Riviera did host the 1998 Senior Open).

The knock is that Riviera doesn’t have enough surrounding property and parking to handle all the satellite trucks and corporate tents required at major golf events now. But then the USGA awarded the 113th U.S. Open to a course on only 111 acres next to a church with a bell that rings every half-hour.

If it packs up now, in fact, the USGA can probably get to Riviera to play the final two rounds this weekend.

Do you know how nice it is in Los Angeles today?

You needed a sweater in the morning as the temperature hovered around 63 degrees, but it’ll warm into the 70s in the afternoon. There’s a reason local television stations in L.A. hire comedians to do weather reports. We don’t have weather, which is perfect for golf.

First round to resume soon | 8:30 a.m.

This just in: Rain-drenched play in the 113th U.S. Open is expected to resume at 12:10 Eastern Time, but we’ll see how long it lasts.

Afternoon tee times have been pushed back three hours and 34 minutes, meaning Tiger Woods will now tee off at 4:48 p.m. ET.

This is a fluid weather situation, so stay tuned. Play was suspended at 8:36 a.m. because of severe weather. Ian Poulter was leading at three-under after he made birdies on each of the three holes he played.

Here are a few Twitter posts from rain delayed players:

Rain interrupts first round | 7:11 a.m.

Well, that didn’t take long. The nasty weather that was supposed to wreak havoc with the 113th U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club is already wreaking havoc, with play suspended at 8:36 a.m. EDT.

How do you like the action so far?

Ian Poulter is your leader in the storm shelter at three-under par through three holes. Nocolas Colsaerts, Charl Schwartzel, Tim Clark and Charley Hoffman are all two-under. Colsaerts has played seven holes (lucky him), Schwartzel and Clark have played four holes, while Hoffman has completed two.

The jet-lag story of the day to follow will be Phil Mickelson, who did make it to his 7 a.m. tee time in time after flying all night from San Diego after returning from his daughter’s eighth-grade graduation.

Mickelson is even par through five holes and currently tied for 12th place.

Mickelson has never won the U.S. Open but has finished second five times.

Folks, it’s going to be a long messy weekend as the United States Golf Assn. tries to maneuver rounds of golf between thunderstorms.

The USGA says it tries to identify the world’s greatest golfer every year at the U.S. Open but this is the year when the USGA will be lucky to keep him dry.

Before the first round | 6 a.m.

For those unfamiliar with Merion Golf Club -- site of the U.S. Open beginning this morning -- there is something a little different about the Ardmore, Pa., course, something beyond the deceptive bunkering.

The flagsticks on each green are topped not with flags but with egg-shaped wicker baskets.

The origin of the baskets remains a mystery. It is known that course architect Hugh Wilson traveled to Europe in early 1912, just after the new Merion was routed, prepared and seeded.

Some European clubs favored baskets over flags, so people assumed that Wilson brought the idea back with him. But it was superintendent William Flynn who -- for reasons unknown -- got the “wickers� patented and added to Merion in 1915.

PGA Tour caddies don’t particularly like them because they don’t give any clues as to wind direction, but the players don’t seem to mind.

“I honestly think it will make us make decisions quicker,� Webb Simpson said. “We’re sitting there a lot of times and we see one flag over here blowing that way and a flag over there blowing that way and we get confused and second-guess.�

The wickers, however, present a potential complication of their own. What if a ball gets stuck in one?

Rule 24-1 states that when a ball comes to rest in a movable obstruction on the putting green, it must be played directly below where it came rest.

That does not mean a player can drop it in the hole. Decision 17/6 dictates that it must be placed on the lip.

“We’ll never play anything like this, so it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,� Simpson said. “It’s just part of the tradition of Merion.�

ALSO:

NASCAR driver Jason Leffler dies after sprint car accident

New Jersey Nets hire Jason Kidd to take over as their coach

Spurs’ Tony Parker a game-time decision with hamstring injury