Dougherty delighted with his strong start at Oakmont

From tee to green, young Englishman Nick Dougherty said, he really didn't play that well Thursday. But he scrambled well and took was thrilled to find that his short game was red-hot in a 2-under 68 that put him atop the leaderboard.

By T.J. Auclair, PGATOUR.com Interactive Producer

OAKMONT, Pa. -- With an ear-to-ear smile, messy, dark hair spilling out of the sides of a white visor and enough charisma to fill a ballroom, England's Nick Dougherty was gushing after a brilliant 2-under-par 68 gave him the early clubhouse lead in the 107th U.S. Open at Oakmont on Thursday.

"Sounds quite easy, doesn't it," a smirking Dougherty said after reciting his four birdie putts, none of which was longer than 15 feet.

"As far as how I played, I'm delighted with that," said Dougherty, whose 68 was his first under-par round in five major championship starts. "I didn't actually play that well tee-to-green, but obviously I was hitting it in the right places when I missed. I never really short-sided myself all day, which is great. And my short game is red hot as it has been recently. I putted solid. I think that's shown in the stats of the back nine, 11 putts or something on the back side, which always helps. So all in all, I'm delighted. That's a great start."

Aside from the four birdies, the 25-year-old whose lone win came on the European Tour in the 2005 Caltex Masters in Singapore, had just two bogeys on what many have called the most difficult U.S. Open course in recent memory.

But after severe thunderstorms saturated the course late in the day on Wednesday, the beast that is Oakmont -- hosting a record-setting eighth U.S. Open -- had a little less bite on Thursday, for which players such as Dougherty were grateful.

"I think the course is -- I hate saying it, easy; especially if a USGA official picks up on that," Dougherty joked. "But I think we had it as good as it could be this morning with obviously that thunderstorm yesterday, it softened it up nicely. Certainly makes it somewhat easier because you can stop the ball now by the holes."

The words "easy" and "U.S. Open" in the same sentence? That might jump to the top of the list of sentences never uttered.

"Goodness, I shouldn't have said that," Dougherty laughed. "No, absolutely not. The course is barbaric. It is. I think that's the funny thing about these events. It doesn't matter how you're playing. You're always a little bit weird -- if you have an off day you're going to embarrass yourself which you can do around these golf courses. I think the thunderstorm made it easier than it otherwise would have been because it softened the greens a bit and the pins are tricky like they always are at the U.S. Opens."

Dougherty's hero, mentor, countryman and friend is six-time major champion Nick Faldo. Faldo took Dougherty under his wing after watching him win three out of four tournaments in the Faldo Junior Series as a youngster.

"Part of the prize was getting to play a round of golf with him, and he gave me some private lessons, which you can imagine is like a dream come true," Dougherty said. "For a British golfer, Nick Faldo, he's Tiger Woods for us, especially back then as well. I started playing quite well, won quite a lot of tournaments in succession and the relationship built.

"I've been very, very privileged. He's given me so much help, tuition, guidance. What more could you want from a guy that's achieved as much as he has? It's phenomenal. As a British player, he's the most successful British golfer ever without a doubt."

Dougherty is humble, yet hopeful, that he can pull off what no European golfer including Faldo has been able to in 37 years -- win a U.S. Open. The great Tony Jacklin was the last European to take the U.S. Open trophy to the other side of the pond way back in 1970.

Dougherty's name doesn't exactly pop up in debates over who the first European to end the U.S. Open drought might be. Those conversations center on more accomplished players such as Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Paul Casey.

But why not Dougherty? After all, his major-championship win-total is the same as Montgomerie, Harrington, Garcia, Donald and Casey -- zero.

"Me leading now, it means a lot to be leading the U.S. Open, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to win the U.S. Open or, wow, he's in front so he should cling on like Tiger Woods," he said. "I can just go about my business as usual and I'm pleased with the start today. I believe I'm a good enough golfer to contend in majors whether it's now, or this year, or down the line. I want to be one of those European and British players the media look at to fly the flag for us in these tournaments because we've had a drought recently and hopefully it will be starting from this week."