After he finished with a pair of birdies and bogeys, Mickelson predicted that the worst was yet to come in the season’s second major.

“We still are not seeing low scores and with the dry conditions coming the next three days, I think even-par of one-under, which is leading right now, could very well be the lowest score we see this week,” he said. “But I was very pleased with even-par today and would have taken it from the start.”

Mickelson is not alone. A number of players would have gladly accepted a 70 and moved on but only six players managed to stay at par or better with the field average a whopping 75.949 – nearly six shots over-par.

“You set out just trying to stay around par, not to do anything too special,” Mickelson said. “You just try to play for par here, whether it’s Thursday or Sunday. Even is a good score.”

It was a good score for Mickelson considering he hit just nine fairways and only eight greens in regulation. Those kind of stats usually add up to a big number at a US Open, but the lefthander had just one three-putt and needed a total of 27 putts.

Starting on the back nine, Mickelson’s first bogey came on the par-five 12th, and he didn’t make up the shot until he rolled in a 25-footer for birdie on 18. He was one-over after a bogey at the second and missed an opportunity at number five before a birdie at the par-three seventh enabled him to become one of just six players to avoid shooting over-par.

“You’re always going to feel like you left shots out there at a US Open because it’s just so tough,” Mickelson said. “I wasn’t pleased making five (on the fifth) but that stuff is going to happen on these greens. They are tough to read and once you get to the green, your work is not done. You’ve got a lot of work left to do to two-putt.”

A frequent visitor to Winged Foot leading up to the Open, Mickelson credited the preparation with helping him have an easier time with what could have been a really tough round.

“I was fortunate in that I had some good preparation,” Mickelson said. “It looks on paper like it was a lot harder round than I think it felt, but the golf course is still very challenging. If you put it in the right spot, you can make some birdies and make some pars.”

If Mickelson finds the fairways and greens with a little more consistency over the next three days he should find himself squarely in contention. Even if he does improve his accuracy, Mickelson does not see anyone consistently scoring.

“I happen to think over-par is going to win it,” he said. “But that’s just because I suspect the course will play harder and faster as the week wears on making the greens tougher to hit to, to chip to and to putt on.”