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Lee Westwood

An ailing Lee Westwood and a fuming Ian Poulter had vastly different tales to tell on the opening day of the US Open at Pinehurst on Thursday.

Westwood, suffering from a chest complaint and kept awake most of the night, somehow produced a two-under-par 68 to be only one behind the early pacesetters in the clubhouse, Rocco Mediate and Olin Browne.

Poulter, on the other hand, was raging over incidents on the 18th and first greens as he slumped to a seven-over 77 that has put him in cut territory.

Having started on the back nine, the Ryder Cup star was already five over when his tiny par putt on the 18th almost came out again after going into the cup and hitting the back rim.

On the very next green, amazingly, his two-foot par putt did come back out - and before tapping in for bogey he stood and protested to a nearby rules official that the metal rim in the cup was too close the the surface..

Poulter called for the tournament director, who arrived on the next hole and told him that while it was unfortunate, the situation had been checked and the cups were considered fine.

"That was because I'd rammed the flag back in on the first because I didn't want it to happen to anybody else," commented the Milton Keynes golfer.

"It's never happened to me before and I've only ever seen it once on a putting green, not in a tournament.

"I was shocked. I hit two perfect putts and you don't expect to see that. We're in a major golf tournament and I feel it's a shame. The metal rim is supposed to an inch minimum below the surface and I was having a tough enough time without that.

"I could shoot three three-unders now and lose by a shot. If I do I'm not going to be very happy. And I'm choosing my words very carefully here.

"Inside I'm raging and I think it's best to get it out of my system now. The crowd went 'ooh' on the 18th and then it happens again and the ball does come out."

Westwood, meanwhile, was considering seeking a doctor after his round. He had started feeling ill last weekend in Maryland, but became much worse on the eve of the event.

"I thought it was sunstroke, but I now think it's going from the heat into air conditioning," he said.

"I didn't feel too great when I got up and for this event you want to be fully fit, but I played great. Any time you shoot two under at a US Open you've got to be pleased."

Level par with six to play, he birdied the 378-yard 13th and then rolled in a 60-foot putt on the next.

The 16th is probably the hardest hole on the course - it plays as a par five for members - but he made a 30-footer there.

As Westwood went off in search of treatment he was alongside Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson, first and second last year, and Australian Adam Scott, while Brandt Jobe had joined Mediate and Browne out in front by going to the turn in 32. Mickelson and Scott both had six to play.