FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Jeff Brehaut needed 13 trips to qualifying school to earn his PGA Tour card. He bounced around mini-tours for years, did not play in his first major championship until age 44 and has earned barely more than $30,000 in 11 starts this season on the under-the-radar Nationwide Tour.

Today, he will wake up leading the U.S. Open.

There likely should be an asterisk attached to this achievement. Brehaut only finished 11 holes before rain washed away the rest of the opening round yesterday at the Black Course at Bethpage State Park. He shares the lead, at 1-under par, with Johan Edfors, Andrew Parr and Ryan Spears, all of whom completed four holes or fewer. And, yes, half the field has yet to tee off.

Still, there sits Brehaut's name atop the leader board -- no small feat for the longtime tour pro from Los Altos, Calif., a suburb of San Francisco. He has spent his entire career trying to claw his way into the big time, so he savored his rare appearance before the national media yesterday.

"It's totally cool," Brehaut, 46, said of sharing the lead. "But I'm trying to keep it in perspective. I'm only through 11 holes, and half the field hasn't even started."

His dad, Gene Brehaut, 76, was not so restrained. Gene and the rest of the Brehaut clan traveled from the Bay Area to New York this week, hoping Jeff can improve on his tie for 17th two years ago at Oakmont in his inaugural major appearance.

"Dad's jumping out of his skin right now," Jeff said, smiling.

Brehaut played at the University of the Pacific and turned pro in 1986. Then, he spent many years in golf limbo --not quite good enough to reach the PGA Tour, just good enough to scrape out a living on lower-level tours, often driving from event to event to save money.

He finally reached the big tour in 1999, at 35. Brehaut played well enough to keep his card for eight years, including a career season in 2005 -- five top-10 finishes and nearly $1.3 million in earnings. All the while, even when he struggled, Brehaut appreciated his lot in life.

"I've never had a real job," he said.

He really enjoyed his job in a practice round Wednesday at Bethpage. Brehaut was playing No. 9, where an enormous gallery had gathered awaiting Phil Mickelson, a few groups behind. After hitting his approach shot into the green-side bunker, Brehaut promptly holed out, earning a stirring ovation.

Then, laughing, he dropped another ball in the bunker -- and holed out again. The crowd went bonkers. Brehaut jumped up and down and pumped his fists, mimicking Bob Tway after his bunker shot beat Greg Norman in the 1986 PGA Championship.

Brehaut signed autographs for a half-hour, suddenly wading in popularity. Now, he is leading the U.S. Open, however briefly. So a little rain will not dampen his mood.

"Obviously, we'd all love to be playing in 80 degrees and sunshine," Brehaut said. "But my wife [Hilary] has been telling me the last three days, 'Embrace your conditions.' Everybody's got to play in this. They're still going to give out a trophy, I think."