Tiger Watch: Woods jovial after tough round - 'At least I kicked Rickie's butt'

by Joe Thomson
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Tiger Woods carded a 10-over 80 in the first round of the U.S. Open.

The 14-time major champion made his first and only birdie of the day on 16, but bogeyed the par-5 18th to complete a round of 80.

No one in Tiger's group fared particularly well Thursday. Louis Oosthuizen shot a 7-over 77, and Rickie Fowler carded an opening round 81. The group will tee off on No. 10 at 11:28 am ET on Friday.

Tiger was looking at the positives after the forgettable round.

"The bright side is, at least I kicked Rickie's butt today," he said.

Hole-by-Hole:

Hole 1 (501 yards, par 4)

  • Missed 20-foot putt for par, taps in for bogey. (+1)

Hole 2 (387 yards, par 4)

  • Missed long putt for par after missing the fairway off the tee. (+2)

Hole 3 (148 yards, par 3)

  • Taps in for par after hitting tee shot 20 feet from the hole. (+2)

Hole 4 (475 yards, par 4)

  • Another bogey after failing to find the fairway off the tee. (+3)

Hole 5 (503 yards, par 4)

  • Saves par after a long lag putt almost goes in. (+3)

Hole 6 (494 yards, par 4)

  • Three putts after a nice approach to the green. (+4)

Hole 7 (515 yards, par 4)

  • Places approach 30 feet from the pin, makes short par putt. (+4)

Hole 8 (602 yards, par 5)

  • Three putts for a disappointing par after a solid approach. (+4)

Hole 9 (203 yards, par 3)

  • Third straight par after a decent tee shot. (+4)

Hole 10 (427 yards, par 4)

  • After a beautiful up-and-down, a short par putt drops. (+4)

Hole 11 (541 yards, par 4)

  • Missed 28-foot putt leaves two-foot tap in for bogey. (+5)

Hole 12 (317 yards, par 4)

  • Scrambled from a road in play, missed putt to card another bogey. (+6)

Hole 13 (512 yards, par 4)

  • Bogey after missing the fairway and two putting. (+7)

Hole 14 (528 yards, par 4)

  • Triple bogey. (+10)

Hole 15 (169 yards, par 3)

  • Tap in par after a missed 10-footer. (+10)

Hole 16 (385 yards, par 4)

  • Birdie after a beautiful approach to seven feet. (+9)

Hole 17 (173 yards, par 3)

  • Solid par on the scenic 17th hole. (+9)

Hole 18 (617 yards, par 5)

  • Bogey on eighteen after finding the fairway bunker. (+10)

The Digest

U.S. Open: Everything you need to know about Jordan Spieth's victory

by theScore Staff
Ross Kinnaird / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Jordan Spieth is your 115th U.S. Open Champion after a tragic finish by Dustin Johnson on the 18th hole. Johnson's three-putt means Spieth becomes just the sixth player to win The Masters and U.S. Open in the same year.

Tournament Recaps

Round 4: Jordan Spieth wins the 115th U.S. Open after Dustin Johnson 3-putt

Round 3: Spieth, Day part of 4-way share of U.S. Open lead

Round 2: Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth share lead at U.S. Open

Round 1: Stenson, Johnson scorch Chambers Bay to lead at 5-under

Scott, McIlroy, Oosthuizen torch Chambers Bay

Louis Oosthuizen, who shot back-to-back rounds of 66 after a opening 77, birdied five straight holes and six total, on the back nine and finished at 4-under. He finished tied for second which is incredible considering how his tournament started.

After Rory McIlroy made a beautiful Sunday charge, Adam Scott followed suit, shooting a 6-under 64 and taking the clubhouse lead at 3-under par. Scott's 64 was the low round of the week and left him in a tie for fourth.

Rory's Round 4 (E)

  • Rory made a ridiculous move on Sunday. He was 2-under par, just two back of the leaders, before floundering down the stretch to end the tournament at even par and a tie for ninth. A valiant effort from the world No. 1.
  • Check in for full hole-by-hole coverage of Rory's back nine.

Billy Horschel hot on Sunday

Horschel was 5-under par through 12 holes, with four birdies, an eagle, and one bogey. He was visibly frustrated with the greens at times but continued to be all over the flag sticks, hitting 11 of 12 greens in regulation. After faltering on the back nine, Horschel made his displeasure with the USGA known in a post-round interview.

Poulter puts an exclamation point on greens debate

Ian Poulter summed up a popular opinion on Sunday evening.

"It wasn't a bad golf course, in fact it played well and was playable." Poulter said of Chambers Bay on his Instagram. "What wasn't playable were the green surfaces. If this was a regular PGA tour event lots of players would have withdrawn and gone home, but players won't do that for a major. They were simply the worst most disgraceful surface I have ever seen on any tour in all the years I have played. The U.S. Open deserves better than that."

I look forward to congratulating the 2015 US Open champion very soon, I simply didn't play well enough to be remotely close. This is not sour grapes or moaning or any of that crap. It simply the truth. Mike Davis the head of the USGA unfortunately hasn't spoke the truth about the conditions of the greens. I feel very sorry for the hundreds of greens staff who spent countless hours leading into this week and this week doing there best to have it the best they could and I thank them for that. But look at the picture. This was the surface we had to putt on. It is disgraceful that the USGA hasn't apologized about the greens they simply have said. "we are thrilled the course condition this week". It wasn't a bad golf course, In fact it played well and was playable. What wasn't playable were the green surfaces. If this was a regular PGA tour event lots of players would have withdrawn and gone home, but players won't do that for a major. They were simply the worst most disgraceful surface I have ever seen on any tour in all the years I have played. The US Open deserves better than that. And the extra money that they have early this year from Fox Sports, they could easily have relayed the greens so we could have had perfect surfaces. Simply not good enough and deeply disappointing for a tournament of this magnitude. I don't like it when people lie on camera to try and save face. And to all you fans that paid good money to try and watch us play golf but couldn't see anything on most holes because it wasn't possible to stand on huge slopes or see around stands, I apologize and I'm sorry you wasted your money traveling to be disappointed. I hope we all learn something moving forward to not have these problems in the future. Happy Fathers Day.

A photo posted by Ian Poulter (@ianjamespoulter) on

Gary Player blasts Chambers Bay layout

The golf course stole headlines Saturday, as legend Gary Player had some unkind words about the setup. Player called the course "a tragedy" and said it was "the worst golf course I might've ever seen in my 63 years as a pro golfer."

Player also quipped, "The man who designed this golf course had to have had one leg shorter than the other." The man who, in fact, designed Chambers Bay responded via Twitter.

Henrik Stenson, who fell out of a tie for the lead Friday, rivaled Player's disdain and quotability, calling the greens laughable.

''It's borderline laughable at some of the greens and some of the pin positions,'' said Stenson. ''And it's pretty much like putting on broccoli, as well. Obviously, the way you play is going to affect the scoring, but I'm sure many of my colleagues would fall in on a few of those remarks.''

Further Reading

  • Spieth's win at the U.S. Open not only put him into some very exclusive company, it did so at a very young age. [Dallas Morning News]

Spieth followed up his record-setting performance at the Masters with this U.S. Open title — all at age 21. In so doing, he became the youngest player to win the Open since a 21-year-old Bobby Jones in 1923.

On a Chambers Bay course that brought Woods, Rickey Fowler and Bubba Watson to their knees and left every golfer on the course muttering to himself at one point or another, Spieth persisted. Sunday wasn’t his best round of the week. He wasn’t getting some of his usual well-thought-out rolls and he appeared to be fighting himself at times. But his 69 was good enough as all challengers melted around him.

As he surveyed the eagle putt on the 18th hole, Johnson told his brother and caddie, Austin, that this was just as he had dreamed it as a child. He had a putt to win his national championship.

“I didn't even hit it, and it went four feet by," Johnson said. "I was trying to make it but die it in the hole. I didn’t want it to go by the hole much because as everyone knows, these greens, they’re fine, but you know, they do bounce."

Johnson was stunned when he missed the 4-footer.

"I might have pulled it a little bit, but it still looked to me like it bounced left," he said.

  • Johnson had been automatic on short-distance putts this season, until Sunday. [Yahoo Sports]

According to PGATour.com stats, Johnson came to Chambers Bay having made 96 percent of his putts inside five feet this season. In a vacuum, a putt of that distance is pretty close to automatic for him – and for most high-level pros.

Of course, the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open is no vacuum. It's a public crucible.

There are no teammates to ask for help. It's you at the foul line with no time left and your team trailing by one. You're basically stripped bare and commanded to perform what should be routine.

That's when routine becomes arduous. On munis everywhere, it's a putt you and I hope a playing partner would give us to avoid knocking knees and sweaty palms.

In the U.S. Open, there are no gimmes.

  • Even though he fell out of contention Sunday, Jason Day became the fan favorite with his gutsy performance during the U.S. Open. [ESPN]

So many people in the crowd were rooting for Day. Some of them probably didn't know who he was until Friday went he collapsed to the ground, but slowly managed to get back up and finish his last hole of the day.

From that point on, including his inspirational round Saturday, Day was the crowd favorite.

  • Spieth's composure paid off in a big way as he put forth a near superhuman effort [CBS Sports]

The way Spieth carried himself around the carved-up gravel mine better known as Chambers Bay this week defied how a 21-year-old should juggle his own nerves. I watched Spieth on Saturday whip 3-irons towards Mount Rainier, tell his agent some jokes and play a closest to the pin competition with his caddie in which they were both rolling golf balls towards a green on the edge of the range.

He didn't appear too concerned about playing in the final group of the US Open.

On Sunday, he faked some baseball swings with his putter at golf balls he tossed up to himself. Matt Kuchar's caddie came up and told him a joke. Let's be honest, it was probably about Kuchar.

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