Tiger Woods’ putter let him down on more than one occasion during his opening round Thursday at the 2024 U.S. Open in Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Teeing off early, Woods shot a 4-over-par 74 at Pinehurst Resort & Country Club’s Course No. 2.
Hitting just 9 of 18 greens in regulation, Woods put extra pressure on himself to save par with the putter – and Pinehurst’s fast, convex greens were not very hospitable.
“It can go so far the other way here, the wrong way, and it’s just so hard to get it back,” Woods told reporters after his round. “This is a golf course that just doesn’t give up a lot of birdies. It gives up a whole lot of bogeys and higher.”
U.S. OPEN LEADERBOARD: Results from Thursday’s first round
Starting his round on the par-5 10th hole, Woods took advantage of the early-morning conditions. The 15-time major champion found the native grass on his second shot, but pitched onto the green to 11 feet and nailed the birdie putt to shoot to the top of the leaderboard.
However, a stretch of five bogeys in seven holes midway through his round included a trio of three-putts. He finished the round with a total of 32 putts.
“My speed was not quite there,” Woods said. “If I clean that up and if I hit a couple iron shots not as loose as I did, I’m right there at even par.”
Woods’ only birdies were on the course’s two par 5s.
“I thought I did the one thing i needed to do today which was drive the ball well. I did that. I just didn’t capitalize on any of it,” he lamented.
He’ll need a much better outcome when he tees off Friday afternoon if he wants to make the 36-hole cut. However, he does have an excellent track record at the Donald Ross-designed course.
In Woods’ two previous appearances in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, he finished tied for third behind Payne Stewart in 1999 and runner-up to Michael Campbell in 2005. He did not play in the Open the last time it was held at Pinehurst in 2014, when Martin Kaymer prevailed.