Matt Kuchar took over the lead of the 114th US Open on Thursday after fellow American Brandt Snedeker stumbled to a bogey and double bogey to begin the back nine.
World number five Kuchar, a winner at the US PGA Heritage tournament in April, opened and closed the front nine with birdies and added another at the par-5 fifth.
Jordan Spieth, the 20-year-old Masters runner-up, shared second on two-under with fellow American Clayton Rask and Sweden’s Henrik Norlander.
Snedeker, who had reached four-under after starting with a 31 on the front nine, fell into a pack at one-under.
Also in that group was five-time major champion Phil Mickelson, a six-time US open runner-up trying to complete a career grand slam, and past major winners Graeme McDowell, Webb Simpson and David Toms.
The one-under group also included India’s Shiv Kapur and a trio of amateurs — US Amateur winner Matthew Fitzpatrick of England, American Maverick McNealy and Australian Oliver Goss.