Haas upstages the big guns at Shinnecock

American Jay Haas, bidding to become the oldest winner of a major championship, upstaged Tiger Woods and Ernie Els to share the U.S. Open first round lead on Thursday.

The 50-year-old took full advantage of surprisingly calm morning conditions at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, mixing five birdies with a solitary bogey at the par-three second on his way to a four-under-par 66.

He was later joined at the top of the leaderboard by Japan's Shigeki Maruyama, who reeled off four birdies in a sparkling display of bogey-free golf.

British Open champion Ben Curtis and fellow Americans Jeff Maggert, Skip Kendall, David Roesch, Kris Cox and Kevin Stadler were tied for third on 68 after a weather-disrupted day on the eastern end of New York's Long Island.

World number one Woods, however, struggled in the fast-running conditions and had to settle for an opening two-over-par 72. Twice champion Els hit back from a poor start to card a 70.

Argentina's Angel Cabrera was still out on the course at four under par, with six holes to play, when fog halted play for the day at 1940 local (2340 GMT). The big-hitting Cabrera had raced to the turn in four-under 31.

U.S. Masters champion Phil Mickelson was two under after 15 holes, level with Fiji's Vijay Singh, after 14.

Earlier, Haas had been three under for the day with two holes to play before he sank a 40-foot birdie putt at the 179-yard 17th and then parred the last.

"I hit a lot of great shots today, kept the ball in play and made quite a few putts," Haas, who has produced four top-10 finishes in 24 U.S. Open starts, told reporters.

"The only crazy drive I hit all day was on eight but I still managed to save my par. I was pretty sharp out there today."

Haas, who has set his sights on playing at the Ryder Cup this year for the third time, would eclipse Julius Boros as golf's oldest major winner should he win at Shinnecock on Sunday.

Boros was 48 years, four months and 18 days when he clinched the 1968 U.S. PGA Championship at Pecan Valley.

Woods, who has not won a major since the 2002 U.S. Open, carded a 72, a solitary birdie at the par-five fifth more than offset by bogeys on seven, nine and 14.

"It was really tough out there today and I was extremely patient," said the 28-year-old American. "Our whole group got some really funky bounces out there in the fairway but everybody is going to be dealing with the same things.

"The greens were really firm and there were a lot of pins with a lot of fall-offs. I played away from a lot of the flags, put the ball 15, 20 feet away to leave myself an uphill putt at it."

Level with Woods was defending champion Jim Furyk, who mixed five bogeys with three birdies, and Spaniard Sergio Garcia, winner of the Buick Classic on Sunday.

The 34-year-old Furyk had been on the point of withdrawing from the tournament less than a week ago, having been sidelined since late January with an injury to his left wrist.

Three-times major winner Els, who replaced Singh earlier this month as world number two after winning the Memorial Tournament, began poorly with a double-bogey on 11 and another dropped shot on 12.

However, he hauled himself back into contention with birdies on 14, 17, one and five, his only other blemish a bogey-five at the 435-yard fourth.

Former world number one David Duval, playing this week after a seven-month break from competitive golf, ballooned to a 13-over-par 83.

He got off to a fast start with a birdie at the 393-yard first after pitching to 12 feet, and recovered well to save par at the second and third.

But his round then fell apart. He ran up consecutive double-bogeys at four and five and dropped a further eight shots over the next 12 holes before double-bogeying the last.