Richie Ramsay bogeyed five of the last seven holes for an eight-over par 78 at the US Open yesterday, but that disappointing finish was mitigated by the experience of playing with the world's best player.

Ramsay, the first Scot to win the US Amateur since 1898, enjoyed the traditional US Open Thursday pairing: with the Open champion - Tiger Woods - and the defending US Open champion - Geoff Ogilvy.

"I had a great time out there, but, obviously, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I played well, and I didn't do that," said Ramsay, who turns 24 today. "It was a lot of fun out there. The course made it even better then way it's set up, and the crowds were great. It was a great experience."

Ramsay missed the cut in his other two US starts, the Masters and Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament two weeks ago. But just sharing the same tee with Woods was almost enough for the talented Aberdonian. "I think after playing with Phil Mickelson, it was good, but there is no kind of substitute for Tiger, because he is a unique player," Ramsay said. "He could possibly be the best that ever played the game."

An enormous gallery followed the threesome around Oakmont's 7230 yards, which left Ramsay in awe. He admitted to a bit of nerves, which manifested in hitting just five fairways and nine greens, a tough way to navigate America's stingiest golf course.

"Eveybody wants to see him. Everybody wants to come have a piece of him and see how he plays golf and how he gets the ball around," Ramsay said. "It's just like me going to Aberdeen and playing, but he comes and plays in front of 10,000 people just every day.

"The more people there made the atmosphere better. It didn't bother me today. When people come out, you always want to do your best. Unfortunately, I didn't do that. But it was great to watch him and it's a joy for me to be inside playing with him. End of the day, I concentrate on my game and just try and take it step by step and I'll wait to see what tomorrow brings."

Another British amateur, Rhys Davies, could also take a measure of satisfaction from his day's work: at one point he was top of the leaderboard.

Davies, who was born in Edinburgh but considers himself Welsh, earned a spot in the 156-man field via a 36-hole sectional qualifier. He took advantage of soft conditions early in the day to put himself on the leaderboard at one under par through seven holes. He stumbled a bit down the stretch, but still ended up with a satisfactory 74.

Davies, 22, a standout All-American golfer at East Tennessee State University, played in the opening threeball off the No.10 tee with Americans Michael Putnam and Lee Williams. He began with a nervous bogey, but after he converted birdies at the par-5 12th and par-3 16th, he was cruising along at one-under as the course, soaked by rain the previous afternoon, had yet to bare its teeth.

His birdie at the 12th was set up by a 9-iron third shot to eight feet on the 667-yard hole, the longest in US Open history. "Downhill left to right and rolled it in. Nice to do that," Davies said of the birdie putt. "I parred my second and felt comfortable with that, but birdie helped."

The course slapped back at him and the field when the breeze began to pick up late in the morning and the greens firmed up. Davies bogeyed the 18th after missing the fairway, and a foul ball into deep rough at the par-4 seventh led to a double-bogey followed by another bogey at the long par-3 eighth.

Both men were eagerly anti-cipating having another go, with Ramsay hoping his playing partners talents might have rubbed off on him. "I kind of learned watching Tiger and Geoff . . . how you get around the golf course and take that into tomorrow and try and put a good score on the board. It's not far off. I just have to work a bit harder on it."

n Dave Shedloski is senior correspondent for pgatour.com and a regular contributor to several US golf publications.