Tiger Woods was cruising through 16 holes on Thursday at the U.S. Open before stumbling to a bogey-double-bogey finish to shoot 3-over 73 in Round 1.
His final two drives of the day at Winged Foot put him in terrible spots. Woods failed to convert a 7-footer for par on No. 17 then chipped a ball that nearly came back to his feet on No. 18 and went on to make a six.
Prior to the late collapse, the 15-time major winner's putter was keeping him afloat. Four of the five birdie putts he made on the challenging greens were over 19 feet in length.
"I did not finish off the round like I needed to," Woods said afterward. "I made a bunch of putts in the middle part of the round.
"It seemed like most of my drives on the front nine landed in the fairway and ended up in bad spots, and I tried to stay as patient as possible and unfortunately just did not finish off my round the way I needed to."
Woods only hit six of 14 fairways and 50% of the greens in regulation during his opening round. He sits in a tie for 70th at the end of his round.
