You could be forgiven if you watched the first couple of hours of Thursday’s first round for Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open, if you thought you were rewinding 15 years.
Starting his day early, with a 7:29 a.m. tee time on the 10th hole, Tiger looked vintage. The 10th hole is a beast of a 619-yard Par 5, but it does have opportunities to get birdies. Tiger blistered his opening drive down the fairway, but put his second shot in the native rough to the right.
Back in the day, that would be an opportunity for him to prove why he’s one of the best to ever do it. And that’s exactly what he did today at Pinehurst. He scrambled for a beautiful up-and-down, and put a beautiful birdie on the board.
In his prime, Woods was one of the smartest, most patient golfers on the course on any given day. And pars on the next five holes looked a lot like that player.
Unfortunately, bogeys on four of the next five holes zapped all of that momentum. And it wasn’t until the Par 5 fifth hole that Tiger was able to get another birdie on his card. Another bogey on 8 put him into a frustrating 4-over.
“I drove it on a string all day, unfortunately, I just didn’t capitalize on it,” Woods said after his round. “I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be.”
Tiger finished his first round with a 74. It’s not entirely out of contention at a U.S. Open, but it certainly doesn’t make anyone feel good about his chances.
“Being aggressive to a conservative line is I think how you need to play this particular golf course,” Woods said, as he explained just how difficult navigating the greens on Pinehurst No. 2 is.
Woods will be back on the course Friday after a good 24 hours of rest, with a 1:14 p.m. tee time for the second round. He said he’s looking forward to the rest, and hopefully won’t be tightening up too much.
“I’d like to hit a few putts (tomorrow), my speed was not quite there,” he said. “It can go so far the other way here – the wrong way – and it’s just so hard to get back. This is a golf course that doesn’t give up a lot of birdies.”
