UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wa. – There is an All-American look at the top of the leader board heading into the second round of the 115^th U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

With Dustin Johnson leading the way, Americans held five of the top six spots, a fine start considering that Europeans have won four of the past five and eight of the past 11 U.S. Opens.

While Johnson shared first place with Sweden’s Henrik Stenson with 5-under 65 scores in the first round at Chambers Bay, fellow U.S. citizens Patrick Reed (66), Matt Kuchar (67), Ben Martin (67), and amateur Brian Campbell (67), were at least 3-under while Cody Gribble (68), Jordan Spieth (68) and Jason Dufner (68) joined the American charge on an overcast but pleasant day.

The long-hitting Johnson just missed his par putt on No. 9 (his final hole), preventing him from matching the best opening-round score in U.S. Open history. Instead, he had his only bogey at the links-like course overlooking Puget Sound.

Seconds later, Stenson capped his opening round with a four-birdies-in-five-hole spurt, including the par 5, 617-yard 18th, to move into a tie with Johnson.

Their lead stood for the remainder of the day as the afternoon wave bobbed and weaved over the treacherous fescue greens. Martin had the best round of the late-starters, carving out a 3-under 67, while Tiger Woods had a mind-boggling 10-over 80.

Ah, but Tiger had some company in his misery and it was a group effort. The Woods-Rickie Fowler-Luis Oosthuizen threesome was a combined 28 over par. Fowler staggered to an 11-over 81 and was next-to-last among the 156 player field. He beat a club pro named Rich Berberian, Jr.

“We were just happy to get out alive,” Fowler said.

Meanwhile, it was mostly a red, white and blue Thursday.

“I’m very pleased with my round today, Johnson said. “I thought I played really solid all day. Obviously the bogey at 9, I hit a poor tee shot there. And hit a really good chip to even have a 15-footer for par and hit a good putt, just came up a little bit short. All in all I thought I had a great day.”

Phil Mickelson, the sentimental favorite going into the first-ever major played in the Pacific Northwest, began yet another pursuit of a career Grand Slam with a bang.

He birdied the third, fifth and eighth holes and made the turn at 32, putting him at the top of the leader board. But he faltered a bit on the back, settling for a 1-under 69.

“I’m very pleased with the way the round went,” he said. “I hit a lot of good shots today. I shot under par the first day of the U.S. Open. The first round was the round I was going to be most nervous getting started. You don’t want to have to fight to come back all the time. “I missed a couple of birdie opportunities on 16, 17 and 18,” he added, “but I am really pleased to be under par after the first round.”

More surprising than Woods’ remarkable foibles from start to finish was the solid play of Campbell and Gribble.

Gribble, ranked 589^th in the World, was the biggest surprise. He earned one of the six qualifying spots in Dallas last week and was steady, landing birdies on the first, 15^th and 16^th holes.

“It was good,” he said. “Obviously I was a little jittery being back, but a little less than last year, I’d say. But I started off really hot. I had a really good 6-iron in there to tap in and probably just kind of settled me down a little bit, definitely.”

Rory McIlroy, the world’s No.1-ranked player, opened with a 2-over 72. Bubba Watson was two shots better in a sporadic round that included a two-foot flub in a bunker.

“It was frustrating, especially how I felt I hit the ball from tee to green,” McIlroy said. “I hit my iron shots very, very well. Even when you hit good iron shot, getting it to 25, 30 feet is a good shot at times. I felt like I gave myself enough chances out there to convert a few and wasn’t able to do that.

“I missed a couple of short putts on the last few holes there and definitely thought it was a day where you could shoot under par and I didn’t take advantage of that.”

Spieth, ranked No. 2 in the world, reeled off birdies on the 11th, 12th and 13th holes, but bogeyed the par-3, 15th.

“I think if I did it three more times, I’d be in really good position come Sunday. No complaints there,” Spieth said. “I didn’t strike the ball particularly well. I wasn’t pleased with the way I hit it. I thought I putted well. I missed a couple putts inside ten feet, but that’s going to happen out here.”

Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott were at even par in the first round.

Cole Hammer, the 15-year-old high school student from Houston, had a 2-over 37 on the front side but wilted in the back, finishing with a 7-over 77 and near the bottom of the morning round golfers.

“I had it going pretty good for a while,” Hammer said. “For the whole front nine, really. And then a few holes on the back and then holes 4, 5, and 6 got away from me a little bit.

“But it’s a tough course. If you don’t put your ball on the fairways some bad things can happen. And unfortunately, I missed too many fairways.”

As for the entire round, Hammer said, “It was awesome. I mean, I can’t even describe what I felt on the first tee. It was like nervous excitement. It was so cool.”