Eye-opening beginning OSU's Fowler trails leaders by two shots

SAN DIEGO — Judging by Rickie Fowler's performance Thursday at the U.S. Open, it might seem he's been down this road before.

He hasn't.

In the first round of his first-ever major golf championship, the 19-year-old Oklahoma State freshman shot a 1-under-par 70 at Torrey Pines. He is currently tied for seventh place, only two shots back of the leaders.

Fowler's round was better than that of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, the top three players in the world who were paired together Thursday. Out of 155 players on Thursday, Fowler was one of 11 who finished under par for the round.

"I didn't have any score in mind,” said Fowler, who received the Hogan Award after a stellar freshman season at Oklahoma State. "I just went out and played. It played fairly similar to the practice rounds, only in the practice rounds I wasn't trying to score or anything.”

Fowler made four birdies, including his final hole to move under par.

"I'm not really worried about what the cut is going to be,” he said. "It doesn't matter, I still have to go score and play my game.”

Fowler said the major championship atmosphere wasn't difficult to deal with since he played in the Verizon Heritage earlier this season. He also shot 1-under par in the opening round of that tournament before shooting 5-over 76 in the second round and missing the cut.

"It isn't that much different than the Walker Cup or the Verizon,” said Fowler. "I wasn't really worried about it.”

Fowler's OSU teammate, Kevin Tway, birdied two of his last three holes en route to a 4-over 75.