PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Keep it simple. Keep it stress-free. Keep it the same as any other PGA Tour week.

This is Rickie Fowler’s mantra for major championships.

And based on his first round Thursday in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, his method is working.

For now.

There are, of course, three more rounds to go and we’ve seen this movie before with Fowler, who has spent a good portion of his career teasing at major championships, yet still is seeking his first victory.

Fowler, the unquestioned current “best player never to win a major,’’ posted a sterling 5-under 66 to share the lead among the players with morning-wave tee times with Xander Schauffele and Louis Oosthuizen. Scott Piercy was one shot behind at 4-under and Rory McIlroy, Gary Woodland, Emiliano Grillo and Sepp Straka were 3-under.

Fowler, who hit 13-of-14 fairways and 15-of-18 greens, called his round “very stress-free,’’ adding, “The execution was very good. I’m happy with the start. You can’t go out and win it up the first day, but you can obviously put yourself in a good position or take yourself out of it and you’re having to fight back.’’

Fowler’s fight will become more arduous Friday and carry on through the weekend as he tries to break through to win his first major championship in his 39th try.

“I know they’re bigger events,’’ Fowler said of majors. “These are the events that we mark on the calendar and you want to peak for and you want to be ready for. Yes, there’s more preparation that goes in. Yes, we look at them differently. I look at them differently. But when it comes to teeing it up on Thursday, I want to feel as I do Thursday at another [PGA] Tour event.

“Thursday is just about getting off to a good start. It’s nice when you shoot 66, and that’s about as high as it was going to be. So I’m really happy with where we’re at and looking forward to see if we can keep it going.’’

Fowler said he hopes his experience in majors will help get him over the finish line soon — possibly this week. After finishing in the top-5 in all four majors in 2014, he figured by now he would have already picked one off. But it remains elusive.

“The experience makes it to where these feel like another weekend at a tournament,’’ Fowler said. “Without having as many rounds in majors, they [can] till feel a little overwhelming. There’s a lot going on. It’s a lot bigger venue, there’s a lot of people out. It’s a big production.

“I’m definitely at a point where this is another weekend on the course, competing against the best players in the world. And this is what we love to do. I would say definitely 2014 was a big step in the right direction. But the last few years it’s been how it’s supposed to feel, when you want to go out and contend and get the job done.’’

Fowler said it’s “going to be hard to get better’’ ball-striking than he had Thursday. He, too, said it “gets more and more important’’ to maintain his “process’’ as the tournament progresses and not change anything.

“Especially when you get to Saturday, Sunday, and things start to speed up,’’ he said. “I think that’s been something that I’ve done a good job over the last few years and have learned from past experiences. Things can start to move quickly, and making sure that we stay kind of the same pace that we were [Thursday] because when it does come to Saturday, Sunday, you get in contention, you get a little amped up and you start to move a little too quickly. If you’re walking fast, it kind of falls into your swing and different stuff like that.

“So the more I can stay at the same pace, breathing the same [the better]. You start walking fast, you start breathing a bit more. It’s a lot easier said than done. It would be nice to see if we can top [Thursday’s 66], if not just keeping matching it.’’