Tiger Woods faced an uphill battle to avoid missing the cut in the US Open for just the third time in his career after again falling foul of the opening hole at Shinnecock Hills.
Woods ran up a triple-bogey seven on the 407-yard par four in a first round of 78 which at least was not too far outside the scoring average of 76.47 on a windswept Thursday.
That meant the 14-time major winner had a fighting chance of qualifying for the weekend, especially when he teed off early on Friday in more benign conditions and started with a tap-in birdie on the 10th, his opening hole.
However, after two bogeys and a birdie on the 16th took Woods to the turn in 35, he hit a terrible approach to the first from the middle of the fairway and was unable to keep his third shot on the green after pitching out of thick rough.
From there Woods chipped to 14 feet but left his bogey attempt short of the hole, the resulting double bogey dropping him back to 10 over par and four shots outside the early projected cut.
Playing partner Dustin Johnson had covered the back nine in 33 to enjoy the outright lead on two under par, with Russell Henley dropping down the leaderboard after needing three attempts to escape the heavy rough on the third on his way to a triple bogey.
Johnson regained top spot in the world rankings with victory in the FedEx St Jude Classic on Sunday and is looking to become the first player to win the US Open immediately after a victory on the PGA Tour.
Shane Lowry is six-over after four holes with Graeme McDowell nine-over after seven.
Rory McIlroy's back out this evening from 10-over.
