After weeks of hard work on swing modifications, Puyallup's Ryan Moore said he thought he was close to putting together a good run in the near future.

On Friday, he got off to the start he needed to at the rain-soaked 109th U.S. Open on the Black Course at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y.

For the first time in 11 rounds at a U.S. Open, the Cascade Christian product fired a round of par or better. He shot an even-par 70 in one of the best rounds of the morning wave Friday.

Moore's 70 was his first round of par or better at a major championship since his opening 70 at last year's PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club.

He won't return to the course for his second round until Saturday morning, at the earliest.

For all of the four bogeys Moore made in his weather-interrupted round Thursday, and its completion Friday, he answered with a birdie.

His last bogey was on the par-4 16th, but he answered by lacing a 4-iron to the 199-yard, par-3 17th close, and he sank a 7-foot birdie putt to get back to even-par.

Moore was stellar off the tee on this demanding layout, hitting 13 of 14 fairways, and 13 of 18 greens in regulation.

In 2002, playing in his first U.S. Open as an amateur while at UNLV, Moore shot rounds of 76 and 79 to miss the cut at Bethpage Black.