Phil Mickelson on course with 70

Phil Mickelson missed some attainable putts, five fairways and 10 greens in his opening round at the U.S. Open on Thursday yet still felt he had hit his target after posting a even-par first round 70.

"I was very pleased with even par, would have taken it from the start," Mickelson told reporters at Winged Foot.

"Even par is a good score. I happen to think that over par is going to win it, 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 to."

Mickelson, gunning for his third successive major championship after winning last season's PGA Championship and the Masters in April, was just one shot behind early leader Colin Montgomerie of Britain, who posted a one-under 69.

Mickelson said his round was not as much of a scrambler's adventure in the tricky winds as it might have seemed. One of his two bogeys came on a three-foot par putt that spun around the edge of the cup at the second hole.

"I was able to put the ball on the correct side of the greens to have pretty easy up-and-downs. I didn't have to make too many long putts. They were pretty easy chips, so I was very pleased," he said.

"The greens are going to be very tough to hit here. The ball was having a hard time getting stopped on these greens."

Two long putts that fell for Mickelson were good for birdies -- a curling, 40-foot downhill putt at the 18th, his ninth hole of the day, and a 30-footer at the par-three seventh.

There were also missed opportunities, including a three-putt from 50 feet after reaching the par-five fifth hole in two when he left his first putt eight feet short of the cup.

"You're always going to feel like you left shots out at a U.S. Open because it's so tough that some putts aren't going to go in or maybe a shot doesn't come off the way you want it," he said. "But I was very pleased."

Mickelson, known for his meticulous preparation for majors, had played some 10 rounds at Winged Foot before the tournament hoping to learn its nuances.

On tournament week, however, he stepped back.

"I had a couple of nice quiet days this week," he revealed after Thursday's round.

"I took Monday off, played over at Baltusrol Wednesday and had a nice quiet day," he said about revisiting the New Jersey site of his triumph at last August's PGA Championship.

Mickelson acknowledged he might have been looking to draw on some magic at Baltusrol.

"A little bit of that," he said. "I enjoy just playing a nice round of golf the day before a major and not getting too hyped up and excited and tense. Went and played Baltusrol, had some good memories, had some lunch and called it a day. It was a nice way to get ready for a big tournament round."