Schwartzel, Poulter share early lead

South African Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, and Britain’s Ian Poulter shared the early lead on Thursday in the 113th US Open at Merion, each of them on three-under par

South African Charl Schwartzel, the 2011 Masters champion, and Britain’s Ian Poulter shared the early lead on Thursday in the 113th US Open at Merion, each of them on three-under par. Poulter started his round at the par-4 11th, used rather than the 10th due to the logistics of the course, and promptly jumped atop the leaderboard with three birdies in a row. The 37-year-old stumbled with a bogey at 14 but birdied the 15th.

HT Image

South Africa’s Tim Clark and Australian Jason Day were on two-under early, Clark with birdies at 12 and 13 and Day with birdies on the 13th and 15th.

Those on one-under included Phil Mickelson, who arrived at Merion at 5:37 in the morning after a cross-country flight from Southern California. He skipped two days of Merion practice to attend his daughter’s eighth-grade graduation, but made his 7:11 a.m. tee time.