Tiger Woods teases fans, then falters to begin U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2.

Tiger Woods got off to a flying start at Pinehurst on Thursday with a birdie on the par-5 10th hole, putting him tied for the lead at one point.

He made some crucial par putts on the 12th and 13th holes, but then things started to go off track on the tricky par-4 16th hole.

Four bogeys followed over the next six holes, and suddenly Woods went from one under to three over for a final score of four-over 74.

The 15-time major champion blamed poor ball striking and putting afterwards.

“I didn’t hit my iron shots particularly well, and my putting wasn’t that great either,” Woods said.

“I hit it well all day. Unfortunately, I didn’t take advantage of those opportunities.”

Woods hit the fairway on 12 of 14 holes but made regulation on just nine, missing two or more strokes on his approach and frequently missing his iron shots to the right, but he never tried to play aggressively and aim for the flagstick, which is essential for success on the second hole at Pinehurst.

“We were a little conservative on some of the endpoints,” Woods said.

“But I didn’t hit very good shots either. I was way off the flag. The flag wasn’t where I wanted it to be on a lot of holes. I just wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be and it ended up being that far off.”

Woods left plenty of space between the ball and the hole, which led to him three-putting a few times, an easy way to lose strokes.

“This golf course is all about the greens, and the complex is so difficult and demanding that I think one under par is in the top five. [right now]”It’s not often that you get low scores. It’s hard to get the ball close,” Woods explained.

“On most golf courses, you hit your shot where the ball is flying down the slope to the flag and you collect the ball. Here, everything bounces off. It’s hard to get the ball on the shelf. If you miss on the short side, it’s an automatic bogey or worse. I think playing aggressively against a conservative line is the way to play this particular golf course.”

Woods made a bold play on the par-4 dogleg-right seventh hole, but he hit it short into a greenside bunker, then hit his third shot 18 feet outside the hole with bogey looming, but he made a comeback shot to stay for par and made a few more putts to keep his momentum going on Thursday and still finished with a 74.

But then he dropped another shot on the difficult par-4 eighth hole, his 17th hole of the day.

Speaking about his physical condition after the round, Woods said his athleticism was improving.

“As the year goes on, I’m getting better physically,” Woods said.

Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

“I don’t want to get injured so I can’t play a lot, so I can’t play in majors. You have to pick your poison, you know? I could be not playing, I could be fighting not playing, but I’m going to play a lot.”

Woods now has 24 hours to prepare for the second round, which begins at 1:14 pm ET on Friday, but instead of going to the recovery room, he said he wants to go to the putting green and get some practice in, perhaps with the help of his son, Charlie.

“I want to make some putts. I just didn’t have enough speed,” Woods said.

“If I can improve on that and get a couple of iron shots and not be as loose as I was last time, I can be at even par. There’s a lot that can go the other way here, the wrong way, and it’s really hard to get back. This is a golf course that doesn’t allow a lot of birdies. It allows a lot of bogeys and above.”

If Woods can correct those mistakes he could play this weekend, but if he can’t get up to speed on Pinehurst’s famed “Turtleback Green” he could miss the cut, just like he did in his last U.S. Open appearance at Winged Foot in 2020.

Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.