Area hopefuls begin U.S. Open quest

The 111th United States Open is off and running in Bethesda, Md.

For the locals, here how they stand after one round:

• Peter Uihlein, the reigning U.S. Amateur champ, is tied for 34th after a 1-over par 72. Playing alongside Graeme McDowell and Louis Oosthuizen in ESPN's featured group on Thursday, Uihlein made the only eagle at Congressional Country Club after holing out for an eagle-two on the par-4 5th. The Orlando resident and IMG Academies alum leads all area amateurs in the field.
• Michael Barbosa, the St. Petersburg amateur and Saint Stephen's grad, got off to a horrendous start following a 12-over par 83. He's in 155th place after hitting a measly six greens in regulation and five fairways. Barbosa also trained at IMG Academies during his prep days, and only fellow IMG'er Ty Tryon sits behind him on the leaderboard.
• Speaking of Tryon, the former phenom is in dead-last after a 13-over par 84. Like Barbosa, nothing seemed to go right. The back nine proved as his main undoing. On that side, Tryon collected seven bogeys, a double bogey and one par.
• Cheng-Tsung Pan, an IMG Academies alum and current University of Washington rising sophomore, is tied for 62nd following his opening-round 74. Pan hit 10 greens in regulation, but only converted one birdie to offset four bogeys.
• Joey Lamielle, the West Florida Golf Tour regular, shot 76 and is tied for 111th. Lamielle, who grew up in Sarasota and played at Booker High before Florida Gulf Coast University, is near the tops in driving accuracy - missing just three fairways. However, the 28-year-old didn't record a single birdie in his round.
• Christo Greyling, a South African native living in Orlando, is tied with Uihlein after a 1-over par 72. Greyling competes on the WFGT like Lamielle and graduated from IMG like Uihlein, Barbosa, Pan and Tryon. Greyling's first round was marked by a steady short game. He only hit seven greens and six fairways, but was 4-for-5 on sand save chances.

The tournament continues Friday, where a 36-hole cut will trim the field down for weekend play. Several area hopefuls need to make a move Friday if they'd like to stick around for the last two rounds.

Bradenton resident Paul Azinger is on the telecast this week, working for ESPN during the sports media giant's early round coverage.