Tiger Wood suffered a horrific opening round in the US Open, playing a 10-over-par 80 game, and was even outplayed by a 15-year-old. The score was Woods' worst ever round at the US Open. Woods even saw 15-year-old Cole Hammer, who had become the third youngest player to qualify for the US Open, better his score with a round of seven-over-par.
Incredibly Woods - who has fallen to 195 in the world rankings - claimed he is still heading in the right direction following his shambolic round. When Woods was asked on wether or not he was convinced that he was on the right track, he said, "Yeah, I am, I am. "I know when I do it right, it's so easy. It just feels easy to control, easy to do it, easy to hit all my shots. I just need to do it more often and build from there. "I fought, I fought hard. And that was my number. I couldn't grind out any harder than that. So that's just the way I played - and unfortunately it was a high number today."
15-year-old Cole Hammer, who had become the third youngest player to qualify for the US Open, even got a higher score than Tiger Woods. Hammer scored a seven-over-par during his round. Woods' round at Chambers Bay contained eight bogeys, one triple bogey and a solitary birdie and was three shots more than his previous highest round at the US Open, which was a 77 when he played as an amateur in 1996. Perhaps the most embarrassing shot of his round saw him lose his grip on the club which flew 30 feet behind him when he looked to hack the ball out of the rough.
On the 13th, he missed the fairway, which was the widest on the course at just over 100 yards, despite using a three-wood for accuracy, rather than a driver. Woods also commented on his back surgery and said, "I didn't play much last year and I haven't played much this year. "Knee surgeries are pretty easy compared to a back surgery, the recovery time. And for some reason, it's just a lot harder dealing with a nerve than a joint."
