Tiger Woods endured his most humiliating day in a Major tournament as he shot a ten-over round of 80 on the opening day of the US Open at Chambers Bay.
Currently tied for 152rd place, in a field of 156 players, the 14-time major winner is 15 shots behind leaders Dustin Johnson of America and Sweden's Henrik Stenson, who both carded five under.
It was a chastening day for Woods, who has suffered one setback after another in the last year, prompting him to take some time out from the game in February.
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Alas, the break only seems to have made matters worse as he shot his worst score in a Major since posting a 77 at the 1996 US Open. Woods was an amateur back then, and though he went on to win his first Major (the Masters) a year later, a 15th title seems further away from ever after he lost his way at Chambers Bay. "I fought," a despondent Woods told the assembled media after his round. "I'm trying as hard as I can but for some reason i just can't get consistency."
Woods managed to eke out a joke from his disaster, pointing out that one of the three players he finished above in the field of 156 was playing partner Rickie Fowler, who finished 11 over. "The bright side is at least I kicked Rickie's butt today," quipped Woods.
Behind the facade he will be shattered by what the Daily Telegraph called his "shambles" of a round. The paper cruelly noted that it came exactly 15 years after Woods recorded one of his greatest triumphs – his 15-stroke US Open victory at Pebble Beach.
Woods then had the world at his feet. At Chambers Bay it was mostly rough at his feet. It all went wrong from the first tee as he opened his round with back-to-back bogeys. Though he endured a triple bogey seven on the par-four 14th it was events at the eighth that encapsulated his day, or rather his year - a dreadful few months that have seen him slide to 195th in the world rankings.
BBC Sport reported that in trying to hack the ball out of the rough on the way to the eighth hole, Woods lost his grip on his club and watched helplessly "as it disappeared over his left shoulder and 30 feet behind him. He then had to check it carefully to make sure it had not bent out of shape."
To his credit Woods kept fighting in the final few holes. He birdied the 16th but on the last hole finished as he'd started, topping a three-wood into the deepest bunker on the course and carding a bogey. "I'll keep working, keep grinding," promised Woods back in the clubhouse. "That was my number today. I couldn't have gone lower than that."
