Woods battles tough course Friday, has ground to make up in Round 2

Going into the finishing holes, Tiger Woods' day was looking solid. But he lost control of the round over holes 15-18 and will have a lot of catching up to do in his second round.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. -- Tiger Woods' bid to become the first player in 20 years to win two U.S. Opens in a row didn't get off to the start he had wanted.

To be more precise, it was the ending that left something to be desired. Woods played his final four holes Friday in 4 over on the way to a 74 that left him well down the leaderboard after the first round.

To add to the frustration, Woods had just worked his way back to even par after making birdie at the 14th hole. But he double bogeyed the 458-yard 15th -- his second double of the day -- and then made bogeys at Nos. 16 and 18 to fall back into the pack.

"I wasn't playing poorly," Woods said. "That's the thing. I was even par with four to go, and I was right there where I needed to be. Two bad shots and a mud ball later, here we go and I'm at 4-over par."

The problems started when Woods' tee shot found the right rough on the 15th hole. He had a good lie and decided to go for the green, but his ball embedded in the deep grass above a greenside bunker. He took his drop and chipped on, but the ball rolled back toward him, and Woods three-putted, lipping out a 2-footer for bogey.

Woods' ball picked up some mud after he hit his drive at the 16th hole -- the fourth time that had happened on Friday. He missed the green and then missed a 6-footer for par. The bogey at the 18th hole came similarly for Woods, who used 31 putts. 

"The course is playing tough, obviously," Woods said. "They moved quite a few tees, but still, the fairways have dried out just enough where you're getting just a little bit of mud, and the wind is starting to pick up just a little bit."

Woods, who hit eight fairways and 10 greens, has plenty of time to right the ship. He finished off his rain-delayed first round well before noon, and the earliest he will start the second would be 9 a.m. on Saturday -- and with a forecast that calls for an 80 percent chance of rain, that could be iffy.

Did Woods wish that he could turn around and go right back out on the Black Course like the pros in the afternoon wave will be doing as the USGA attempts to make up for lost time?

"As of the way I feel right now, no," Woods said. "I don't want to go back out there right now. Probably would be a few clubs light."

When he resumed play on Friday morning at 7:26 a.m. ET, Woods faced a 6-footer for par on the seventh hole. He proceeded to miss the putt but fought his way back to even par with birdies on Nos. 11 and 14 before the stumbling finish.

The double bogey at the 15th hole was Woods' second of the first round. The last time that happened was in the opener of last year's U.S. Open, which Woods went on to win in a 19-hole playoff over Rocco Mediate. He has successfully defended the other three majors but never a U.S. Open, which he has now won three times.

"I was hitting good shots," Woods said. "It's not like I was hitting it all over the place. ... Unfortunately didn't finish off the round the way I needed to."

And as for Saturday -- or whenever Woods gets to play his second round?

"Just continue what I'm doing and just hopefully clean up the round a little bit," Woods said. "Maybe tomorrow, hopefully drive the ball in the fairway and get a couple of breaks ... and see what happens."