Hicks, Streelman make for unlikely leaders

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A glamour duel between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson attracted the attention in the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday but the lead belonged to unsung Americans Justin Hicks and Kevin Streelman.

Hicks and Streelman had to qualify into the field and made the most of their chance by posting rounds of three-under-par 68 at Torrey Pines, the longest course to host a major.

Streelman, ranked No. 608, came through Qualifying School to become a PGA Tour rookie this year, while 713th-ranked Hicks plays on the satellite Nationwide Tour.

"Some guys that I talked to last week when I was at the Nationwide event said, 'Geez, you're going out to the U.S. Open,' kind of had almost a sense of they were saying good luck with it," Hicks told reporters on Thursday.

Hicks and Streelman shared a one-stroke advantage over Australians Stuart Appleby and Geoff Ogilvy, the 2006 champion, and Americans Rocco Mediate and Eric Axley.

Mickelson shot even-par 71, one shot better than world number one Woods.

"There's definitely a lot of great players that not many know the names of out there," said Streelman, 29.

"You feel like you're as good as a lot of guys out here, you compete against them, played against them in college and growing up, but if you have an off-putting day at Q-School...you're not here."

Hicks echoed the sentiment.

"There's a lot of great young players in America, and we're all out there trying to earn our way up to playing on this big level in front of the cameras and all the media and everything else," Hicks, 33, said.

"A lot of times we can get lost in the shuffle down there because it's a difficult world down there."

Streelman feels comfortable at Torrey Pines, where he opened with 67-69 during January's Buick Invitational and played the third round with eventual winner Tiger Woods, who he admitted he was too shy to approach earlier in the week.

A 75-77 finish dropped him to a tie for 29th but he said his performance was a confidence booster.

"I really played great when I played with Tiger. I hit inside him a lot on the first nine, and didn't make any putts that day," he said. "Those are my dreams, to play with those guys."

(Edited by Peter Rutherford)