On the 14th, a horrendous tee shot landed him way deep in the fescue. With three holes left, he is desperate for something to spark for him. Tiger Woods saves par on the 15th after recovering from another imperfect tee shot that went into the first cut of the rough. He’s plus-eight as he goes to the final two holes. On the 620-yard par-5 16th, Woods delivered a nice drive and then made a nice sand save after his second shot to set himself up with an uphill birdie look from a little over 10 feet. His pal, Justin Thomas, isn’t having much fun out here either. 17: Same Story, Different HoleĪ 40-foot birdie putt for Woods on the par-3 17th missed by a few feet, and he heads to the final hole hoping to get off this treacherous course without more damage done. But there is little consolation for Woods after his first round in the U.S. On the bright side, his score is the same as Jordan Spieth’s, and he outplayed Rory McIlroy (+10). He hit six of seven fairways on the front nine but only three of seven on the back as his round fell apart. He could not deliver on makable birdie looks available because of how well he was striking the ball early on. The putter let him down, most notably on the first and the 13th hole, but also at various points throughout. But, alas, Woods needed to take out his putter one last time, tapping in for a 78 with his 30th putt of what became a very long day.

18: Rocky Round 1 Ends With a Par PuttĪ nice chip shot on 18 came close to going in. While Shinnecock Hills has been lengthened since 2004, and while certain fairways have been narrowed and other tee boxes added to heighten the strategic challenges of a notoriously tricky design, nothing unnerves an elite golfer more than wind.Īt the start of every hole, a gust can blow a well-struck tee shot off course - and into Shinnecock Hills’ knee-high fescue grasses.Ī recurring scene involved course officials bent at the waist, or on their hands and knees, pawing through the wispy fescue looking for balls they had watched disappear into the tall grass while they stood only a few feet away. As Woods crossed an overpass to reach the first tee, he put both hands to his cap to keep it on his head.

I knew we were in for a tough day right then.”īy the afternoon, the wind seemed to have gained strength. “I mean, that affected everything.”ĭuring the practice rounds here, there was little wind and the course was much tamer.īut, as Justin Rose observed: “When I arrived at the golf course this morning I was like, ‘Whoa, what’s going on?’ The flags were already fluttering straight out from the flagpoles. “The wind gusting 25 or 30 miles an hour didn’t help,” said Patrick Reed, this year’s Masters champion, who shot three over on Thursday.

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