Dougherty - razor-sharp short game.

Nick Dougherty got off to a slow start at Oakmont but finished at the top of the US Open leaderboard.

Englishman Dougherty carded a late birdie and had a stellar back nine to claim the lead after the first round at two-under-par 68.

Playing in his third US Open, Dougherty overcame early trouble on the front nine with a solid finish.

Consecutive bogeys on the front nine dropped Dougherty to one over and he stayed there until a birdie on the 11th, where he fired a nine iron to 15 feet.

A seven iron to 13 feet on the 13th for another birdie got him under par and a wedge to six feet on 17 resulted in the final birdie of his round.

"I'm delighted with a 68," Dougherty said. "I didn't play all that well from tee to green but my short game was red-hot as it has been lately and I putted solidly."

Playing conditions were tough, par for the course at a US Open, but Dougherty believes the early starters caught a break on Wednesday night when nearly half an inch of rain was dumped on the course.

"The course is playing as good as it could be for us," added the former Walker Cup star.

"It's playing somewhat easier because you can stop the ball by the hole.

"It's still frightfully tough out there but the morning players definitely got the better half of it, especially if we don't get any more rain this week."

Justin Rose got off to an even worse start but also found his way to the top of the leaderboard before sliding back down again.

Rose was also at two under despite opening with a double-bogey at 10.

He slipped back into a tie for second at one under after a three-putt bogey at the par-four fifth hole.

Rose did not waste much time reversing his fortunes after his disastrous opening as he reeled off three consecutive birdies starting on the par-five 12th hole.

After a birdie at 14 got him to one under, Rose gave a shot back at 15 and made the turn at even par.

Birdies at one and three tied Rose for the lead at two-under before trouble struck at the par-four fifth.

After a drive into a bunker, Rose blasted out on to the front of the green but faced a long birdie try.

He left himself eight feet coming back for par and slid the putt just left of the hole.

Rose bogeyed the par-three sixth after hitting his tee shot into a greenside bunker and the par-three eighth when his tee shot rolled off the back of the green.

"I made five birdies in my round and anytime you make five birdies around here that's a good day," Rose said.

"So the key is to limit your mistakes and, unfortunately, I didn't manage to do that completely.

"I haven't shot myself out of the tournament today, which is what round one is all about, getting yourself in the tournament from the word go.

"I think that after starting with a double on the first, I feel like I managed to sort of keep myself in the game today."

Ian Poulter was likewise at two under but was also unable to manage his mistakes.

He bogeyed the 18th - after starting his round at 10 - and the third to drop to even par.

Poulter then double-bogeyed the par-three eighth to finish at a two-over 72, along with Lee Westwood who had two double-bogeys and a bogey along with three birdies..

Angel Cabrera of Argentina, who was as low as three-under after five holes, is the only other player in the field under par after signing for a 69.

"It was a very good round," Cabrera said. "It's always tough to shoot par in the U.S. Open."

American Bubba Watson and Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain are in the clubhouse after rounds of even-par 70.

"I had a good day on the greens and I chipped well," Olazabal said. "I think those two things just really helped today. I'm happy with the score today. Anything around par is going to be fantastic."

Olazabal played with fellow Spaniards Pablo Martin and Sergio Garcia.

Martin managed a one-over 71 while Garcia has pretty much shot himself right out of the tournament with a 79.

Garcia started his round with consecutive pars and that was the highlight of his day.

A double-bogey at the par-four third started his trouble and Garcia closed his front nine with three bogeys in a row before another double-bogey at the ninth.

The back nine was not much better as Garcia sandwiched a bogey at 11 between pars. His final bogey of the round came on 15.

Former Open champion Ben Curtis, defending U.S. Open champion Geoff Ogilvy, and Tiger Woods each signed for a one-over 71.

In search of his third U.S. Open title, Woods bogeyed three of five holes starting at the long par-three eighth and was at two-over with four holes to play.

The world's top-ranked player drove just short of the green on 17 and was able to get up-and-down for a birdie to get to one over.

A bogey start was offset by a birdie at the second for Woods, who then got to one-under with his second birdie of the day at the par-three sixth.

He closed with an eight-footer for par at 16, a birdie at 17 and then another solid par on the last after finding the right rough with his drive.

"That was a nice way to end the round," Woods said. "The key to my round was 16, 17 and 18. I could have lost three shots there but was able to keep it where it is."

Colin Montgomerie, who had the title within his grasp before a closing-hole disaster at Winged Foot a year ago, started his round with a birdie at 10.

He stumbled with a double-bogey at the par-five 12th and then things fell apart around the turn.

Montgomerie bogeyed 17 and 18 to close his front nine and things got no better coming in as he started the back side with a bogey at the first.

A birdie at three and four consecutive pars had Montgomerie at four over with two holes to play but he bogeyed the final two holes of his round for a six-over 76.

American David Toms had the outright lead at three-under but bogeyed the fourth, fifth and sixth to drop to even-par. Toms finished at two-over 72.

Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell each shot three-over 73, Luke Donald signed for a 74 and Richie Ramsay, who played with Woods and Ogilvy, struggled to a 78.

The U.S. Amateur champion, Scotland's Ramsay had played two rounds with Phil Mickelson at The Masters, so he was used to the attention that came with playing with Woods and Ogilvy.

"It was a lot of fun out there today and the course made it even better the way it's set up," Ramsay said. "It's a great experience, but I think the more people there made the atmosphere better. I think I enjoyed it a bit more from that."

Amateur Rhys Davies of Wales shot a 74 in his first round in a US Open.

Battling an injured left wrist, Mickelson did not record a birdie in a round of 74.

"I feel OK, it's sore and aggravating and annoying but it's not like the pain was five, six days ago," Mickelson said.

"I felt rusty. I hit some hybrids off the tee to try and get it into play and missed the fairway more than I had been and that's what was difficult."

Collated scores (USA unless stated):

68 Nick Dougherty

69 Angel Cabrera (Arg)

70 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Bubba Watson

71 Tiger Woods, Jason Dufner, Anders Hansen (Den), Lucas Glover, Ben Curtis, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Fred Funk, Peter Hanson (Swe), J J Henry, Vijay Singh (Fij), Jim Furyk, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Olin Browne, Brandt Snedeker, Pablo Martin, Justin Rose

72 David Toms, Boo Weekley, Craig Kanada, Tim Clark (Rsa), Shingo Katayama (Jpn), Ian Poulter, Marcus Fraser, Tom Pernice, Lee Westwood, Carl Petterson, Aaron Baddeley, Stewart Cink

73 Arron Oberholser, Kirk Triplett, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa), Tom Byrum, Graeme McDowell, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Lee Janzen, Michael Putnam, Trevor Immelman (Rsa), Ernie Els (Rsa), Jon Mills (Can), Padraig Harrington, Stephen Ames (Can), Hunter Mahan, Anthony Wall, Sean O'Hair, Chad Campbell, Rich Beem, Scott Verplank, Camilo Villegas, Joey Sindelar, Andrew Buckle, Jeff Brehaut

74 Jerry Kelly, Vaughn Taylor, Woody Austin, Harrison Frazar, Rhys Davies, Kenneth Ferrie, Nathan Green (Aus), Mike Weir (Can), Ken Duke, Ryuji Imada (Jpn), John Kelly, Luke Donald, Stuart Appleby (Aus), DJ Brigman, Tripp Isenhour, Kevin Sutherland, Anthony Kim, Phil Mickelson, Jeff Sluman, Darron Stiles

75 Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Johan Edfors (Swe), Justin Leonard, Bob Estes, John Rollins, Joe Durant, Robert Allenby (Aus), Thomas Bjorn (Den), Mark Harrell (a), Jeev Milkha Singh, Davis Love, Charl Schwartzel, Steve Stricker

76 Jason Kokrak, Pat Perez, Zach Johnson, Retief Goosen (Rsa), Colin Montgomerie, Chris DiMarco, Nobuhiro Masuda (Jpn), Ricky Barnes, Martin Laird, Soren Kjeldsen, Dean Wilson, Charles Howell III, Adam Scott, Nick O'Hern

77 Robert Karlsson (Swe), Geoffrey Sisk, Mathew Goggin (Aus), KJ Choi (Kor), Kyle Dobbs, Tom Gillis, Johnson Wagner, Joe Daley, Luke List, Brett Wetterich, Paul Casey

78 Christian Cevaer (Fra), John Koskinen, Richie Ramsay, Sam Walker, Paul Goydos, Todd Rosetti, Adam Spiers, Tim Petrovic, Brett Quigley, Ryan Moore, Tori Tanaguchi, Kaname Yokoo, Shaun Micheel

79 Nick Watney, Stephen Marino, Sergio Garcia (Spa), Andy Matthews, Todd Fischer, Michael Block, Trip Kuehne, Frank Bensel, Chris Condello (a), Eric Axley, Henrik Stenson, Steve Marino

80 Chris Stroud, Jason Allen, Lee Williams, Martin Ureta (a)

81 Philip Pettitt, Michael Berg, Todd Hamilton, Allen Doyle, Rod Pampling

82 Jeff Golden, Warren Pineo, Alex Prugh

84 Ryan Palmer, Steve Elkington (Aus), Miguel Rodriguez

85 Jacob Rogers

86 Mike Small