Marc Leishman is the leading Aussie after the first round of the 117^th U.S. Open but believes his best golf is still ahead of him.

Playing in the afternoon field and teeing off after Rickie Fowler who lit up the golf course, Leishman wasn’t fooled into thinking an easy day awaited him.

“Waking up and seeing Rickie, I think he was 6-under after 10 or 11, something like that. So I knew something was up,” Leishman said.

“The course was obviously pretty soft after the rain we’ve had. But the course is still tough if you don’t play well. But definitely not U.S. Open-like.”

The Victorian took his time around the Erin Hills layout finding five birdies and just one bogey on his way to shooting 4-under 68 to be tied 7^th after the opening round.

“My Short game and putting were really good. I had a lot of very makeable birdie chances and my iron play was good.

“I didn’t drive it great but when I did miss it I was in not that bad a spot. So probably 7 and 8 was disappointing.”

His errors with driver saw Leishman spend some time in the now infamous Erin Hills fescue; but with a solid escape plan he was even able to birdie the 4^th, a fairway hole out lending a helping hand.

“Early in the week I said to my caddie, anytime we hit it in here (fescue), we need to make sure we putt for par,” added Leishman.

“I didn’t try and get greedy out of it. Most of the time I had a lob wedge out, just trying to get back in the fairway and give myself a chance. It worked.”

Looking forward to playing in the morning on day two, Leishman hopes to have his driver in check to be in contention come the weekend.

“This afternoon things started to speed up a little bit and fairways started to run out a bit. Greens sped up, a lot quicker today than they were in the beginning of the week. So that made a difference,” added Leishman.

“But it would be nice to get out there on some fresh greens in the morning. Hopefully the wind will be down.

“If I can drive it like I did a couple of weeks ago at Memorial, it will go a long way to shooting under par scores. Hopefully I can keep hitting my irons and wedges the way I have been and tighten up all the tee stuff.

“I’ve got some improving to do, but I don’t mind that. I don’t mind shooting 4-under.”

Leishman is no stranger to performing on the world’s biggest stages, he has had two top-5 finishes at The Open including a runner-up in 2015, he also finished tied 4^th the at The Masters in 2013 when Adam Scott won.

However, Leishman’s best performance at the U.S.Open is tied 18^th which he managed last year.

“I’m feeling good. Obviously there’s a lot of golf to play. But the U.S. Open hasn’t always been my best golf moment,” added Leishman.

“But as far as U.S. Open courses go, I feel like this one suits me the best. You need a little imagination, hitting it in the right spots. I really enjoy this golf more than just having to hack out.

“It’s more what I grew up on in Australia. And I tend to play better on this type of golf course, so you enjoy what you play well on.”

Adam Scott is the next best of the Aussies rallying to shot an even par round after starting with a horror three putt bogey on the 1^st.

However, finishing on an entirely different note, Scott rolled in a huge 45-foot putt for eagle on the 18^th hole.

Making his Major debut Wade Ormsby can hold his head high after showing plenty of fight at Erin Hills.

The South Australian was 1-under the card with three holes to play, but showing how quickly this U.S. Open course can bite, he dropped four on his way into the clubhouse to finish the first round at 3-over the card.

Joining Ormsby on the same number and showing equal measures of tenacity is Nick Flanagan. He was solid throughout the middle of his round until he started to come unstuck on the par-4 4th where he made a double bogey.

He added a further two bogeys to his card before entering the clubhouse but showing determination he also made a birdie at the par-4 8^th.

Jason Day had a tough day at the office spending plenty of time in the fescue and bunkers. He finished on 7-over the card leaving himself well down the leaderboard.