Tale of two nines for amateur Jordan Spieth

By Kevin Maguire

SAN FRANCISCO -- After playing his first 10 holes in even par, amateur Jordan Spieth got stung by what many here at the Olympic Club are calling the most difficult six-hole stretch to start a golf course. The University of Texas golfer bogeyed four of the first five holes on the front nine to shoot a 4-over 74.

Spieth, who is making his first major championship appearance, only got into the U.S. Open after PGA Tour pro Brandt Snedeker withdrew with a rib injury.

Starting on No. 9 due to the routing that has players going off the first and ninth tees, the 18-year-old Spieth parred his first two holes. A bogey at No. 11 dropped him to 1 over, but he got that shot back with a birdie at the short par-3 15th hole.

He gave another one back with a bogey at the monstrously long par-5 16th hole that measures 670 yards but again rebounded with birdie at the shorter par-5 17th hole.

Kevin Maguire is the senior golf editor for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Kevin.Maguire@espn.com.

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Zhang, 14, birdies final hole to break 80

By Bob Harig

SAN FRANCISCO -- He's headed to high school, but Andy Zhang is getting a pretty good education at the U.S. Open. His score of 79 might not look too good plastered up on the board, but when you consider that he was shaking as he teed off during the first round Thursday morning and proceeded to start his day with a triple bogey, followed by a double & well, that's pretty good. "It will definitely help a lot," he said. "It's something that I can never learn from playing the junior tournaments. The junior tournaments, I start bad with maybe a triple or a double, and then I can work my way in and probably finish around 1 over or even. But not here. But I still think I kept myself pretty calm out there. I'm pretty happy with that."

Zhang, 14, is the youngest player to compete in the U.S. Open going back to World War II. From China, he moved to Florida when he was 10 to pursue golf. He went through local and sectional qualifying, starting this week as an alternate but getting into the field when Paul Casey withdrew due to injury.

Despite his obvious talent, we're still talking about a kid who just finished eighth grade. He made just two birdies, but one came on the 18th hole to complete his round and help him break 80.

"I never had a big crowd following me ever, I never played a course like this before," he said. "The greens are just unbelievable. The rough is impossible to chip out of. I don't know how Michael Thompson shot 4 under. That's just amazing."

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.

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Amateur Spieth holding own at U.S. Open

By Kevin Maguire

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jordan Spieth got into the U.S. Open only after PGA Tour pro Brandt Snedeker withdrew with a rib injury. The University of Texas golfer, who just finished his freshman year, is so far making the most of his first major championship appearance. Starting on No. 9 at Olympic Club due to the routing that has players going off the first and ninth tees, Spieth parred his first two holes. A bogey at No. 11 dropped him to 1 over, but he got that shot back with a birdie at the short par-3 15th hole.

He gave another one back with a bogey at the monstrously long par-5 16th hole that measures 670 yards, but he again rebounded with birdie at the shorter par-5 17th hole.

The 18-year-old made the turn at even par with the most difficult stretch of holes -- Nos. 1-6 -- still ahead.

Kevin Maguire is the senior golf editor for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Kevin.Maguire@espn.com.

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After two 4-putts, Harrington still not upset

By Kevin Maguire

SAN FRANCISCO -- Two majors, two double eagles in 2012. American Nick Watney holed his second shot from 190 yards with a 5-iron on the uphill par-5 17th for an albatross to jump from 3 over to even par and into a tie for eighth.

In the final round of the Masters in April, Louis Oosthuizen holed his second shot on the par-5 second hole at Augusta National. He went on to lose in a playoff to eventual champion Bubba Watson.

Watney's double eagle is just the third one in the 112th U.S. Open, but amazingly the second one in the past three years. Shaun Micheel pulled it off in 2010 at Pebble Beach. Before that, T.C. Chen accomplished the feat for the first time in a U.S. Open at Oakland Hills in 1985.

Kevin Maguire is the senior golf editor for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Kevin.Maguire@espn.com.

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After two 4-putts, Harrington still not upset

By Bob Harig

SAN FRANCISCO -- At one point in his round, Padraig Harrington was 1-under par and on the leaderboard. And then things got interesting -- in a bad way for the three-time major champion. He made a double bogey at the par-5 16th, another double bogey at the second and a bogey at the drivable par-4 seventh. Despite three birdies, Harrington shot 4-over 74.

"I had two 4-putts and a 3-putt, two stubbed chips from the edge of the green," Harrington said. "That's a lot of shots. I can't remember ever having a 4 putt and I had two of them today."

And yet, Harrington had no issues with the Olympic Club.

"The course is super. Brilliant. Actually, not difficult either. It's nicely setup. Very playable. Yeah. It was & it's very nice. Nice setup. It's ideal. It just goes to show what the firm greens scare the life out of professional golfers. So it's excellent."

Asked if there were any positives to take from the day, Harrington said: "No. I need an afternoon of putting."

Bob Harig covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at BobHarig@gmail.com.

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Thompson takes early lead at U.S. Open

By Farrell Evans

SAN FRANCISCO -- In the 2007 U.S. Amateur at the Olympic Club, Michael Thompson lost 2 and 1 to Colt Knost in the finals. That week, the former Alabama star got a preview of some of the changes that were made to the course since the last U.S Open held there in 1998. On Thursday, the 27-year-old Tucson native had seven birdies and three bogeys for a 4-under-par 66 that was good enough for a 3-shot lead with most of the rounds completed from the morning wave. Thompson, who was a rookie on the PGA Tour in 2011, hit eight of 14 fairways, found 8 of 18 greens and converted 4 of 6 sand saves. At the third, he holed out from a greenside bunker for birdie.

"I think it's a real advantage having played here in 2007," Thompson said. "A lot of the players haven't seen the changes to the courses since 1998.

"Knowing, remembering certain spots that I have been in before, you play the course 15, 20 times, you're going to know...