Hale Irwin rolled back the years as he captured the early first-round lead at Southern Hills.

Irwin, who won the last of his three US Open titles in 1990, capped a three-under 67 with a birdie at the treacherous par-four 18th, where he hit his second shot to two feet.

"It went pretty much as I tried to hit it," he said.

"198 yards, uphill, low under the tree. I tried to hit it flat, so it won't hit that steep hillside and stop.

"I wanted it to bounce up, a little left-to-right, what else can I say? It was well hit."

It was a nice flourish to end a round that started with back-to-back dropped shots.

"After the bogey-bogey start, it was like, why are you here?" said Irwin, who bounced back immediately with two consecutive birdies.

"I felt all along that I was playing well. I played the next two holes with birdies and got back to even par, and after that it was fun again."

Irwin, whose play-off victory in 1990 at the age of 45 made him the oldest US Open winner, shrugged off his elder statesman status.

"Age is a three-letter word," he joked.

"I'm not under any illusions - I know I'm capable of playing this way every day, whether or not I do it."

Joint-leader Retief Goosen said the decision to halt play when thunderstorms hit the course had been the correct one.

"I was prepared to stop," said Goosen, who opened birdie-birdie and picked up another stroke at the seventh.

"I knew we weren't going to finish, so I took my time out there, tried not to rush.

"But the course is going to play entirely different on Friday."

Loren Roberts and Stewart Cink were Irwin's nearest challengers in the clubhouse on one-under 69.

Roberts said the course was playing "long and fast"..

"I think it helps the control player," he said. "You've got to put the ball in the fairway."

World number two Phil Mickelson, European Tour money leader Angel Cabrera of Argentina, Spanish wonder kid Sergio Garcia and American Matt Gogel were in the clubhouse on even-par 70.

"I'm not ecstatic and I'm not disappointed," Mickelson said.

"Certainly I would have liked to be under par, but even par never hurts at the US Open."

Great course

Cabrera was pleased with his day's work.

"I'm delighted with my round, even par on a great course like this is a good start," he said.

"I was very lucky to get an early tee time, the greens aren't as fast as they will be early in the day.

"You're going to see a lot of bogeys on this course."

While Tiger Woods started the first round the overwhelming favourite, US veteran Tom Lehman warned that it would be a mistake for the field to focus on Woods.

"You can't waste your time worrying about one guy," said Lehman.

"There's too much to worry about, maintaining your own game and your own emotions, or else this course will eat you up."