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• Poulter finished the day on one under par • Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello is level with Poulter One day the meek will inherit the earth but for the moment they will happily settle for yesterday’s opening exchanges of the US Open, which saw the so-called plodders thrive while some of its stars fell victim to the vicious heart that beats beneath the prettiest landscape in the game. Phil Mickelson, who finished with a four-over-par round of 75, and Lee Westwood, who was three over par at the turn, were the most prominent victims in the field of 156 players but they were not alone in their suffering on a blustery day that blew an already difficult course in the general direction of treacherous . Thank heavens, then, for the decision of officials to water all the greens and most of the fairways overnight, which at least offered the players a chance of retaining their dignity. Of those who did exactly that, no one comported himself better than Ian Poulter, who was the clubhouse leader for much of the day after signing for an opening-round 70, one under par. The Englishman had three birdies, offsetting a couple of bogeys, but his best moment came at the par-five 18th, where he found himself in a bunker on three separate occasions but managed a par. “A real bucket and spade job,” he called it afterwards. As for the round itself, he was justifiably proud. “It’s the fact of loving the golf course. It’s my first time here and I love it and the fact that you don’t have to hit driver on a lot of holes. It’s about positional play. I like small greens and tricky around the greens so therefore my short game can come into play when needed and it did today a number of times. I worked hard this week and that was a good reward today,” he said. Matching Poulter for pride, and for scoring, was Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello, winner of last year’s Austrian Open, whose one-under round will surely rank as one of his career highlights, not least because visa problems stopped him making it into the United States. And when he did eventually land, it was only to discover his clubs had gone missing. Happily re-united on Tuesday, they made a wonderful partnership yesterday. “I would have been a fool to expect anything coming in here but I played well today. It’s my first major and I want to learn just being here,” he said. “But to be at the top of the leaderboard and to have my parents with me here to see it is as good as it gets.” The Spaniard deserved full marks for modesty but then this was a day for the modest to thrive as, among the morning’s starters, the leaderboard was notable mostly for the number of short-hitting, smart-thinking players who battled their way into red numbers, the likes of KJ Choi, Mike Weir and David Toms – steady, steadier, steadiest. The leaderboard also featured the usual smattering of American journeymen enjoying their Andy Warhol moment – a US Open tradition like no other – as well as Luke Donald, who has mined a rich seam of form in recent weeks The Englishman declared himself content with his opening round of 71, even though it included a double-bogey sixat the 2nd hole. “Majors always demand full concentration and it’s easy to lapse and you have to focus pretty hard. You have to think through every shot around here. “Luckily, whenever I missed a shot I missed in the right place,” the Englishman said. “It’s a good solid start – something to build on. It’s encouraging to shoot level par when not playing your best. I thought the greens were holding pretty well and you could control the spin. They firmed up as the way went on but there were no surprises out there.” Among the large band of unhappy campers was the pre-tournament favourite Mickelson, whose torrid day on the links featured four bogeys, no birdies and a brush with the rules of golf. The big left-hander was spoken to by an official after he appeared to smooth the sand with his foot in a bunker at the fourth hole, although he was later exonerated. You cannot win a major on Thursday but you can lose it goes the old adage. If true, then predictions that this coming Sunday would mark a glorious conclusion to the American’s career-long quest to win his national championship can be forgotten. If false, then we can all look forward to one of the sport’s greatest comebacks. Not only did he score badly, he played badly, hitting a succession of poor shots that left him hacking out of greenside rough on to putting surfaces that were about as receptive as the North Korean Tourist Board or, as happened on the par-five 18th, where he hit his second shot into Carmel Bay, reaching into his bag for a new ball. When he finally made it safely on to the greens, Mickelson hit a series of poor putts, turning pars into bogeys and birdies into pars. “It was one of the worst days I’ve had putting. I had a number of birdie opportunities and couldn’t make one. I don’t mind the bogeys, that’s going to happen at a US Open. I’ve got to make birdies, though. When you putt like I did, there’s no way to break par,” he said. US Open Tiger Woods Ian Poulter Phil Mickelson Golf Lawrence Donegan guardian.co.uk

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Ian Poulter defies conditions at US Open but Phil Mickelson falters