With Tiger Woods having a mediocre afternoon to finish on one under, it was his compatriots Furyk and Funk who hit the heights on an intriguing opening day in Minnesota.

Furyk finished on four under par, making some vital putts to keep his score in check, and Funk joined him after some strong play during the closing stages of his round.

England's Justin Rose hit five birdies and two bogeys in a round of 69 to lie just one shot off the lead, alongside Australia's Peter Lonard.

The unorthodox-swinging Furyk was not distracted by a three-hour delay due to lightning and rain storms, dropping just the one shot at the par-three 16th.

But the stoppage meant 39 players were still to complete their rounds when play was stopped due to fading light.

Among them were Australia's Greg Norman and South African Retief Goosen who were stuck on two under with three and four holes to play respectively.

Also in early contention on two under are Americans Lee Janzen and Davis Love III, who led the field for some time before some unusually erratic play in the closing stages of his round.

Mark Calcavecchia and Jeff Sluman joined them after completing their rounds just before the siren sounded to end play.

It was a strange day for the golfers, who were taken off the course early on because of severe weather warnings.

Sirens had blared across the monstrous 7,360-yard, par-72 layout shortly after Woods had fired his opening shot, sending golfers and spectators scurrying for cover.

Cautious PGA officials were quick to sound the alarm for severe weather following the events of the 1991 US Open's first round at this very course.

Back then a lightning strike killed one spectator and left five others in hospital.

When Woods returned, he birdied two out of his first three holes to suggest that a big charge was on the cards.

But he stumbled at the turn, dropping consecutive shots before one more birdie put him at one under, the score he remained on until the end of the round.

Woods' playing partner, Ernie Els, struggled in similar fashion and finished the day on level par.

Defending champion David Toms, Jesper Parnevik, Sergio Garcia, John Daly and Darren Clarke headed a list of big names who all but played themselves out of title contention.

Toms all but wrecked his chances with a five-over-par 77, Parnevik shot a nine-over 81 to finish 13 shots off the lead and Garcia had a three-over 75.

Clarke reached the turn on six over and John Daly slumped to eight over after his first nine holes following a disastrous 11 at the par-four 16th hole.