Denmark's Søren Kjeldsen made a strong start in California as he moved to the top of the leaderboard on the first morning of the 110th US Open Championship.
Without a winner since Tony Jacklin's 1970 victory at Hazeltine, the US Open Championship has become an elusive prize for European golfers with Colin Montgomerie a three-time runner-up while Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam and Miguel Angel Jiménez have also just missed out.
As play began on a cool morning with no rain forecast on the Monterey Peninsula and only light winds at Pebble Beach Golf Links, Kjeldsen made an early move to end the 40-year drought as he birdied the third, fourth and sixth holes and was atop the early leaderboard at three under after seven holes.
Italy's Edoardo Molinari was a shot behind his fellow European having recovered from a bogey at the second with birdies at the fourth and sixth holes.
His brother Francesco Molinari had earlier birdied the par four first hole but then endured a run of bogey, bogey, double bogey before he managed a par at the fifth to sit at three over par.
The rollercoaster continued as Francesco Molinari birdied the sixth and seventh and after eight holes was one over.
Among a large group gathering a shot behind Edoardo Molinari on one under par were American Major champions Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk and 50 year old South African David Frost.
England's World Number Six Luke Donald was at level par having played eight holes from the tenth tee and in a group also including 2006 US Open Champion Geoff Ogilvy of Australia, Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Ireland's three-time Major winner Padraig Harrington and Masters Tournament champion Phil Mickelson, the latter two playing in the same group alongside US PGA Champion YE Yang of Korea.
Harrington had started brightest of the trio on the back nine with a birdie at the 11th before he bogeyed the par four 15th while Yang bogeyed both the 11th and 12th.
Five-time US Open Championship runner-up Mickelson, who turned 40 yesterday, was by contrast the model of consistency as he opened with six straight pars.
World Number One Tiger Woods was due to tee off alongside England's Lee Westwood and Ernie Els of South Africa at 2136BST, Woods having won by a Majors-record 15 strokes when the US Open Championship last visited Pebble Beach in 2000.
