They’re Not Stars, but They Have Lead Roles

The top of the first-round leaderboard at the 105th U.S. Open on Thursday was occupied, but probably only rented, by two sectional qualifiers in their 40s.

One goes by the first name “Olin”; the other answers to “Hey Rocco.”

So there you have it.

All this pre-tournament talk about one of golf’s “Big Five” winning at Pinehurst No. 2 and two guys with “The Big Chill” in their VHS collections are leading it?

It’s so early in the game that it’s best not to get carried away with wild weekend speculation -- such stories tend to have limited shelf lives -- but round one of this four-day fight sure provided an unexpected punch.

Olin Browne and Rocco Mediate, wily veterans filled with scar tissue and stories to tell, shared the first-round lead after shooting three-under-par 67s on a course that was supposed to be six-inch primary rough on golfers of their ilk.

Browne and Mediate hold a one-stroke lead over Lee Westwood, Brandt Jobe and defending champion Retief Goosen, who shot two-under 68s.

Four players are two shots back at 69, including Phil Mickelson and Steve Jones, the 1996 U.S. Open champion.

Mickelson was headed for a downer finish after bogeys at No. 15 and No. 16 before closing with a birdie.

Reaction?

“I’m beat,” an exhausted Mickelson said.

It was Goosen who predicted Pinehurst would play tougher than Shinnecock Hills last year -- but that may have just been a ploy to get the U.S. Golf Assn. to keep the water hoses turned on the greens.

Goosen, a two-time Open champion, was his consistent self, turning in a scorecard of 34-34.

“I think they were a little bit scared about what’s been said with the course,” Goosen said of the USGA.

Goosen, who played in the morning, drew the better tee-time straw.

Pinehurst actually proved to be a prickly test, evidenced by the 12 players who shot in the 80s and only nine, in a field of 156, who shot under par. The scoring average was 74.699.

Tiger Woods, the only player with a chance to win this year’s Grand Slam, hit a wayward drive off his first tee, the 10th, but recovered to make birdie on the par five and finished at even-par 70

Woods thinks three more 70s might earn him a trophy.

“Four rounds of this, it’s looking pretty good,” he said.

All of the so-called “Big Five” are within range. Vijay Singh shot par, and Ernie Els is only four shots off the lead after a 71.

Jobe, a 39-year-old who played at UCLA, had a chance to have his life story chronicled after holding sole possession of the lead at four under through 15 holes. Then he bogeyed two of his last three and cleared center stage for “The Sunshine Boys.”

No disrespect, but Browne, 46, and Mediate, 42, began the tournament with world rankings of 300 and 251, which are terrific bowling scores.

Browne’s story borders on the unbelievable; Mediate’s often involves a back brace.

Browne nearly quit golf two years ago, and nearly quit a tournament nine days ago.

Fittingly enough, Browne and Mediate got here by grinding out two of 22 berths at sectional qualifying at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md.

After shooting 73 in the morning round on a miserably hot day, Browne figured he needed 62 in the afternoon and sought a graceful way to bow out of the event.

He ended up playing, partly out of respect to the USGA, and shooting a 59 in the afternoon to earn a ticket to Pinehurst.

Thursday, somewhat dazed, he reflected on his wisdom not to withdraw at Rockville, which has to rate as one of the great decisions in his life.

“I was probably about five minutes from not being here,” he said.

Mediate is less than two years removed from falling to the floor, in excruciating back pain, at his Jacksonville home.

He makes it sound funny now, but it wasn’t.

“Well, no one came home for three hours,” Mediate said. “So I couldn’t move for three hours. I couldn’t even breathe. ... For three hours I couldn’t get to my phone. It was awful. Of course, my wife laughed when she got home ... “

No close inspection of either golfer’s recent past offered clues they were capable of what happened Thursday.

Browne and Mediate are venerable pros, both with tour victories. They have had their moments in previous U.S. Opens, Browne finishing tied for fifth in 1997 and Mediate tied for fourth in 2001.

That was long before their games took duck-hook turns.

Browne, who attended Occidental College, lost full-exempt status on the tour and two years ago almost quit, figuring his parents might have been right when they questioned his taking up golf at age 19.

“My folks thought I was absolutely stark raving out of my mind when I told them this is what I wanted to do ...,” Browne said.

Browne’s best finish this year was a tie for 17th at the St. Jude Classic. He has missed the cut in four of his 11 tournaments.

Mediate’s problems have been mostly medical, related to a back injury suffered two years ago at the Deutsche Bank event.

“I’ve been a mess,” he said.

Mediate finished in a tie for 13th at the rain-shortened Nissan Open in February but has otherwise struggled, missing the cut in four tournaments and having to withdraw in two others.

Thursday, though, everything flowed, highlighted by his eagle on the par-five 10th hole.

“I’m surprised,” Mediate said. “I have to remember how to do this.”

No one had to remind him, or Browne, that there was a long, long way to go.