There are no cheering crowds on the TearDrop Tour, where Winston-Salem native Mark Slawter is honing his two-year-old professional golf game.

Heck, there are no crowds at all.

So when Slawter started hitting some great shots and making some birdies on Pinehurst No. 2’s back nine Thursday in the opening round of the U.S. Open, the cheers were music to his ears.

The crowds didn’t begin to build until a couple hours after Slawter’s 7 a.m. tee time. The larger crowds seemed to get the 25-year old former N.C. State standout going.

"As more and more people came around, the more relaxed I got," Slawter told a media gathering after posting a two-over-par 72.

Birdies on four of the final 10 holes helped Slawter recover from a four-over start through seven.

"That birdie on nine helped," he said of a superb 5-iron tee shot on the 179-yard hole that left him just three feet away from the cup.

"Even when I made two bogeys coming in, they didn’t bother me. I couldn’t wait to hit the next shot, I was having so much fun. It was like I hit one shot and I can’t wait to go hit the next one to see how good I can do and see if I can make them applaud louder."

Playing to the crowd was just one of many new experiences that Slawter enjoyed Thursday. Not only was it his first U.S. Open, it was his first appearance in big-time golf.

Two Nike events, in which he missed the cut, were his previous high-water marks on the pro golf scale.

Slawter is attracting quite a bit of media attention as well, mostly from journalists looking for a local angle.

He’s the only North Carolina resident in the 156-player field as the 99th U.S. Open makes its first visit to the state.

"I’ve gotten a lot of ‘Go Wolfpack’ and stuff like that out there," he said. "It’s nice to have people supporting me. The tours I play, we don’t have anybody come out to watch. For me to have all these people rooting for me is unbelievable."

Slawter’s comeback Thursday was also improbable.

"I felt like things were slipping away after I made my third bogey in a row on No. 7, but I just wanted to hang in there and not give up."

He did just that, sinking birdies at 9, 11, 13 and 17.

The 72 leaves Slawter in reasonably good shape to make the 36-hole cut, but he’s trying to avoid the anticipation.

"I’m not looking ahead and thinking how great it would be to make the cut or anything like that," he said. "I just want to stay focused on every shot. I feel like I’m capable of shooting a pretty good round. But at the same time you never know."