Mike Weir often talks about the fine line that separates success from disaster. It's not always obvious but you know when it's been crossed. Weir found himself in that no-man's land yesterday in the opening round of the United States Open, poking a few holes in his hopes for a second consecutive major championship.

Cruising along at one-under par through seven holes, Weir made double bogeys at eight and nine, followed by a bogey at 10 before he got his game back on the rails, eventually finishing his opening round at three-over-par 73.

"There were a couple of quirky breaks that really hurt me. But that's golf. You're going to have some days when things don't go your way," Weir said. "It was just a weird day. It was as if the golf gods weren't with me and that's the way it happens sometimes."

Through many of the early holes, Weir flirted with trouble but always was able to work his greenside magic to save par. He even got into red numbers briefly with a tap-in birdie at the par-5 sixth.

But then everything went haywire at the par-4 eighth. His drive rolled through the first cut of rough and nestled up against the collar of the second cut.

"That was an awful break," he said. "I hit the ball right down the middle and it bounced dead right and ended up against the seam of the rough. Being left-handed, with the rough four inches high, I could hardly play a shot. Weird. I've never had that happen to me before."

A few years ago, Weir might have mentally caved in when faced with such adversity. Yesterday, he was even able to make it into a joke.

"If you're out there at your local club and that happens, you kick it out another foot and have a perfect nine-iron into the green, no problem.

"But it was right against the collar and that's just golf sometimes."

Unable to put much clubface on the ball, he pulled the shot left of the green, hit a tree and bounced even farther. His only play was a wedge to the area in front of the green. From there he hit a mediocre chip and two-putted for double bogey.

At the ninth, he pushed his drive at least 20 yards left, then hit a poor wedge shot that failed to get back to the fairway. His next shot ended up in a greenside bunker and he eventually made six.

After his bogey at 10, Weir reeled off a string of three pars, then rolled in a 22-foot birdie putt at 14. He gave himself two more good birdie chances at 16 and again at 18, missing putts of five and four feet.

Despite the adversity, Weir is well-grounded going into today's second round.

"I've got to stay patient," he said. "That's the name of the game, especially in a major like this. I didn't want to fire at a bunch of pins on my back nine even though I was four over par. I needed to stick with the game plan and, yeah, I could have been a couple better.

"And that's what I'll do (today): Just try to chip away at it, and hopefully get back to red figures at some point in the day. Even if I get it to one-over or even two-over, I'll be in good shape for the weekend.

"I expect the lead might stay at five- or six-under. Seven, tops. When it's all said and done at the end of the week, it doesn't go much lower than that."

While it isn't likely Olympia Fields will get easier, because there is no rain in the forecast, Weir should get a break with his early tee time (7:40 a.m.) today.

"Hopefully we'll have the same kind of calm scoring conditions (this morning) that the guys had (yesterday morning). They had perfect conditions but the wind was definitely a factor (in the afternoon). The greens and fairways were firming up, but they'll be even more firm when the afternoon guys go out."

Weir might even take a little more confidence into today because of the way he rallied through the back nine.

"It wasn't very much fun through eight, nine and 10 but I did gather myself. Eight was a fluke but nine, I played the hole poorly, but I stayed in the game mentally.

"I just kept telling myself, 'Look, it's 72 holes, you've only played eight or nine of them, there's a long way to go.' "