U.S. Open 2018: Tiger Woods highlights from Round 1

Here are the Round 1 highlights from Tiger Woods at the 2018 U.S. Open from Shinnecock Hills.

For the first time in three years, Tiger Woods teed it up on Thursday at the U.S. Open, a tournament he has won three times. Unfortunately, he’s going to have a lot of work to do if he wants to even come close to getting a fourth victory here….or even play the weekend for that matter.

Shinnecock Hills was extremely unkind to some of the best players in the world on Thursday and Tiger was no exception. He hit the ball very well, including the best he’s been in a long time off the tee, but his short game got him in trouble on a few holes and that was the difference in the first round.

There weren’t a ton of highlights to be had on this day (combined with the fact that the USGA is being a little stingy with video) but let’s go hole by hole and see how Tiger Woods did in Round 1 of the 2018 U.S. Open.

1st hole

Things started out well for Tiger Woods at the par-4 1st hole as he hit a solid drive into the fairway. Okay, no problem.

https://twitter.com/usopengolf/status/1007319569084530688

Unfortunately, things got much worse from there. From 135 yards, he hit his approach over the green and did not have any fun back there. He hit his third shot a touch too short and it rolled back off the green so he decided to go with the putter from there for his fourth. He hit that fat and didn’t even make it back to the surface. He hit his fifth on a good line but past the hole, leaving him a testy putt for double-bogey, which he rolled past and tapped in for a triple to start. Ouch.

Thru 1: +3

2nd hole

Trouble continued for Tiger at the long, par-3 2nd hole. Playing 252 yards on Thursday, Woods hit his tee shot a little left of the hole. The ball did land on the green but rolled off the back side, leaving him a difficult putt back onto the surface some 68 feet away. He left himself about 10 feet for par but couldn’t convert and tapped in for a bogey to move to 4-over for the day.

Thru 2: +4

3rd hole

Tiger hit a monster 342-yard drive down the right side of the fairway at the 510-yard, par-4 3rd, which played as one of the most difficult holes at Shinnecock Hills on Thursday. He was left with 173 yards to the hole and hit his approach to the back fringe about 20 feet away. He left his birdie try a couple of feet short but finally got in with his first par of the day.

Thru 3: +4

4th hole

Tiger hit another solid drive at the 4th but caught an unlucky break as his ball bounced to the right, leaving the ball below his feet and giving him an awkward stance for his approach. He hit his second just off the back of the green, just under 60 feet from the hole, but hit a beautiful chip to just over a foot on his third and tapped in for his second consecutive par.

Thru 4: +4

5th hole

On one of just two par-5s on the golf course, the shortest of the two at 592 yards, Woods hit a 329-yard drive down the right side of the fairway at the 5th, putting him in good position to go for the green in two. With 260 to the hole, Tiger left himself about 30 yards short of the green for his third. He pitched up to four feet and rolled in his first birdie of the day to get a shot back.

Thru 5: +3

6th hole

Switching things up a bit, Tiger hit the left side of the fairway with a 283-yard drive, just keeping the ball out of the nasty rough that plagued Dustin Johnson at the par-4 6th hole. But at least Tiger was nice enough to try and help him find his ball.

Left with 175 yards to the hole, Woods hit a nice approach short of the hole and had just over 18 feet remaining for his birdie effort. His putt just missed the cup and he settled for par to stay at 3-over for the day.

Thru 6: +3

7th hole

Tiger just missed the green to the left at the 184-yard, par-3 7th hole, leaving himself a delicate shot from just under 30 feet. He played it beautifully to 16 inches and tapped in to save par.

Thru 7: +3

8th hole

Tiger kept the accuracy going off the tee by hitting yet another fairway at the par-4 8th hole, which played at 439 yards on Thursday. Following a 334-yard drive, Woods had approximately 111 yards to the hole and hit a beautiful approach to the right of the flag, just under nine feet away. However, the putting woes that have plagued him recently were right there again as he missed a golden opportunity to get another birdie and once again settled for par.

Thru 8: +3

9th hole

Hitting his sixth fairway in seven chances on the front nine, Woods once again put himself in great position at the 9th with a 327-yard drive, leaving him 158 yards to the hole. With the wind blowing directly behind him at a brisk 17 miles per hour, Tiger couldn’t keep his approach short of the hole and went just over 38 feet past the hole, leaving a very tricky putt back down the hill for birdie. Playing 12 to 15 feet of left-to-right break, he hit a very good lag and rolled in a two-footer to shoot 38 on his first nine.

Thru 9: +3