Woods
sinks to bottom at Chambers Bay
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[June 19, 2015]
By Steve Keating
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Washington (Reuters) -
Tiger Woods sank to the bottom of the U.S. Open leaderboard after an
opening round 10-over 80 on Thursday, but vowed to fight on and return
to the top.
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Without a major title since his U.S. Open victory seven years ago at
Torrey Pines, Woods chances of ending the drought seems unlikely
after he carded the fourth highest score in his professional career
to leave him 15 shots behind co-leaders Dustin Johnson and Swede
Henrik Stenson.
"Not very happy, that's for sure. It was a tough day," Woods told
reporters. "It's one of those things, just got to work through it.
"I'm trying as hard as I can to do it, and for some reason I just
can't get the consistency that I'd like to have out there."
Even in a year that has produced only disappointment Woods' display
on the links-style layout was shocking.
Dressed entirely in black, the outfit perfectly reflected Woods dark
mood as he piled up bogey after bogey and was unable to tap into any
of the form and belief that carried him to the top of the world
rankings and 14 major titles.
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The 39-year-old American made a dreadful bogey, bogey start and went
steadily downhill from there until he made a triple-bogey at the
14th that dropped him to 10-over.
Only one player, Rich Berberian Jr., a club professional playing in
his first U.S. Open, was below him at the time.
A birdie at the 16th was the lone bright spot before he finished
with a bogey to leave him in tie for 152, one shot clear of Rickie
Fowler and three in front of Berberian.
"The bright side is at least I kicked Rickie's butt today," joked
Woods, managing to find a bit of humor in his performance. "I fought
hard and that was my number (80).
"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."
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With just one top-25 finish in five starts this season, little was
expected from Woods as he continued to recover from back surgery and
to work on a remodeled swing.
Few would have expected his downward spiral to continue to such an
extent on Thursday at Chambers Bay where he recorded his third round
in the 80s this year.
He has managed to break 70 just twice.
"They're all not easy to do. I've gone through tough phases in each
one of these things and I've come out okay on the other side," said
Woods.
"I haven't played enough. I haven't had a rhythm to play.
"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.
"Keep grinding and keep working."
(Editing by Greg Stutchbury)
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