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• Defending champion, Geoff Ogilvy fired a 1-over 71 and is three strokes back of the leader Nick Dougherty. Last year he opened with a one-over 71 and was two-strokes back of Colin Montgomerie. Only seven times has the U.S. Open title been successfully defended, the last coming in 1989 when Curtis Strange held off Ian Woosnam, Chip Beck and Mark McCumber at Oak Hill.

• Nick Dougherty grabbed the first-round lead with a 2-under 68 and has a one-stroke advantage over Angel Cabrera. His career best score on TOUR is a 67 in the first round of the 2005 World Golf Championship -- NEC Invitational. After round one in Akron he trailed Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Henrik Stenson by a stroke. He went on to finish T51. Below are his major championship starts and other starts in the United States

• Angel Cabrera posted the only other under-par score on Thursday with his 1-under 69. In 2004, he opened with a 4-under 66 at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club and shared the first round lead with Jay Haas and Shigeki Maruyama. He went on to finish 16th.

• Only one hole at Oakmont Country Club that played under-par on Thursday, the 609 yard par-5 4th hole played to a 4.974 average.

• The toughest hole on the course on Thursday was 18th hole, averaging 4.654. It was also the toughest fairway to hit and the hardest green to hit in regulation.

• There were 17 scores in the 80s posted on Thursday, compared to two rounds in the 60s. The scoring average in round one was 75.320. The highest first round scoring average for the 2007 season was at Augusta National Golf Club, averaging 76.188.

• The 12 amateurs in this week's tournament are the most in U.S. Open history, just ahead of the 10 that teed it up in 2003 at Olympia Fields. Luke List was the last player in the field after David Howell withdrew due to a wrist injury on Monday. List would have increased the count to 13, but he made the decision when he registered on Monday to play as a professional, making his third U.S. Open appearance. List leads the field in driving distance on Thursday with his 320.5 yard average.

Rhys Davies and John Kelly shared low amateur honors for round 1 with 4-over 74s.

• This week's U.S. Open features players from 20 countries and 27 states. It will also include 68 former Nationwide Tour players. Of the 72 spots available through open qualifying, former or current Nationwide Tour players took home 40 those places.

• Stuart Appleby posted an eagle in the first round, holing out for a two on No. 11 with a 7-iron from 165 yards on the 379-yard, par-4. Later in the Morning, Michael Block eagled No. 14, a par-4 with a pitching wedge from 133 yards. There was not a single eagle posted in the afternoon wave of players.

• Since the introduction of the Masters Tournament in 1934, just five players have captured the first two legs of the traditional Grand Slam (Masters, U.S. Open) in modern golf history -- Craig Wood (1941), Ben Hogan (1951, 1953), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972) and Woods (2002).

Ten different players have won two or more major championships since the inception of the modern Grand Slam in 1934, when the first Masters Tournament was conducted. Tiger Woods and Ben Hogan have accomplished the feat three times. Below is a chart that illustrates consecutive major champions.