The US Open was the last major Tiger Woods won back in 2008, but after the first round of the 2015 version he’s already well out of contention, shooting a 10-over par 80, equaling his worst round at a major.
Despite having wide fairways by US Open standards, Woods had a tough time finding the short grass at the Chambers Bay layout in America’s Pacific North-West, which lies an hour’s drive from Seattle.
He had four bogeys on his opening nine. Somehow he saved par on eight despite two trips into the fescue rough where he lost control of his club hurling it into the air.
He showed rare glimpses of his best, including a great bunker shot on 10 when his ball was plugged. It was the same bunker that Bubba Watson barely moved his ball half a metre earlier in the day.
However, the good strokes were few and far between as Woods went on to bogey the next three holes, followed by a triple bogey seven at 14 where he went from bunker to bunker to bunker.
I know one person who can relate to Tiger Woods right now. pic.twitter.com/3vvHuzWifi
— Kelly Tilghman (@KellyTilghmanGC) June 18, 2015
Woods looked shattered when he hit one of his best irons on the Par-3 15th to within five metres, only to miss the birdie putt by centimetres. He managed to keep his composure and struck another solid iron into 16 to finally record his first birdie of the day.
Any possible joy or thoughts of a revival were short lived though when he cold topped a 3-wood on the 18th on his second shot to finish in a tie for 152nd – third last in the tournament.
While Woods’ score was bad, he wasn’t the only one to struggle with Players Championship winner Rickie Fowler shooting an 81.
The public course was specifically designed for the tournament just eight years ago.
Before the Open started world number one Rory McIlroy described Chambers Bay as playing ” more like a links course than some links courses.”
With only one tree on the course, the challenge lies in the fast fairways, extreme elevation, wind, and even distractions from the occasional train running right next to the layout.
Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson share the lead at five-under. The best Aussies were Jason Day (-2), Geoff Ogilvy (-1) while Adam Scott and Cameron Smith both finished a further stroke back on Even par.
With struggles evident in today’s 1st rd of the US Open, here’s a look at Tiger Woods’s underwhelming past 12 majors pic.twitter.com/SreuW3jUWG
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) June 18, 2015
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