01‘steady;eddie’ leads;the;open

tiger woods got all the buzz thursday at the u.s. open, and the first-round leader is fine with that. “give tiger the spotlight,” said michael thompson, who shot a four-under 66 at olympic club. “i’m going to go out and play my game.” his game included six birdies on his last 12 holes and a three-stroke lead over woods and four others. success at olympic club is no stranger to thompson, a 27-year-old alabama grad, who made it to the final of the 2007 u.s. amateur, losing to colt knost, 2 and 1. thompson is excited about his return to san francisco—he’s even staying with the same lombard street family that housed him five years ago—and thinks his recent knowledge of the course benefited him. “a lot of guys on tour, especially some of the older guys, haven’t seen the course since 1998, and it’s very, very different from then.” said thompson, who, including the amateur and this week’s practice, has played the course 11 times. “you play a golf course that many times, you’re going to know where to hit it.” an eagle scout, thompson isn’t fazed by difficult tasks, even going so far as to call usga events “fun.” “i really like the way they set up for me,” he said. “my game is steady. steady eddie, that’s who i am.” he’s also the leader at the u.s. open. —John Antonini (@johnantoninigw)