Henrik Stenson thrilled with 'beautiful putts' at the U.S. Open

Pace-setter Henrik Stenson was thrilled with the way he finished his opening round at the U.S. Open, with the Swede relishing "some beautiful putts" at Chambers Bay Golf Club.

Stenson shot a five-under 65 in Washington state on Thursday, joining Dustin Johnson at the top of the leaderboard at the midway point of the first round.

Four birdies on the last five holes, including three straight starting on the 14th, set up the 39-year-old's score, and he was clearly happy with his performance when addressing the media later.

"It was a good day. I was striking it nicely, which led to a lot of birdie opportunities for me. I felt like I was really keeping my patience and a level head out there and very focused on the things that I wanted to be focused on," Stenson said.

"And then finished off with it was a good day on the greens in all, but especially the last five holes. I hit some beautiful putts and managed to slip a few in there. It was a good way to finish the day."

Having struggled with form and illness issues over the past couple of months, Stenson claimed Thursday was "a big step forward".

Chambers Bay's links-style layout has been a key topic of discussion in the lead-up to the 2015 U.S. Open and that remained the case on Thursday.

Stenson did not hide from the "extreme features" of the course but, perhaps unsurprisingly, refused to get criticise.

"It's different. Of its kind, it's one of the finest," he said with a laugh.

"It is a links course with some extreme features, there's no two ways about that. We've got some big banks, we've got some massive runoffs and fairways that are really sloping in areas. Like the 8th hole, hit a nice three-wood down the middle, just trying to hit a nice fairway finder, but it turned into a rough finder.

"So, yeah, there are some extreme features on this course, I think everybody can see that. And then it's more down to how you're going to play those, and make sure you don't get tricked out by them."