Tiger Woods has rough round with irons, shoots 4-over at U.S. Open - ESPN

PINEHURST, N.C. — Tiger Woods picked the wrong course to have a bad round with his irons.

The 15-time major champion hit 12 of 14 fairways in the first round of the 124th U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 on Thursday. But Woods' irons weren't dialed in on a course that demands accuracy because of its complex greens and dramatic runoffs, and he missed 9 of 18 greens en route to a 4-over 74.

«I didn't hit my irons particularly well,» Woods said. «Didn't putt that great. Drove it on the string all day. Unfortunately, I just didn't capitalize on it.»

Woods, a three-time U.S. Open champion, was tied for 54th when he walked off the course, 9 strokes behind leader Patrick Cantlay, who opened with a 5-under 65.

«I was somewhat conservative in some of my end points,» Woods said. «Then again, I didn't hit the ball very well either. It added up to quite a bit of distance away from the flag. It's not where I wanted to be on a lot of the holes. It just ended up being that far away because I wasn't as sharp as I needed to be.»

Woods gave his fans a promising start when he made a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 10, his first hole of the round, to move to 1 under. On the par-4 12th, he made a 10-footer to save par, followed by an 8½-footer on the 13th to remain 1 under.

Things fell apart once he reached the par-4 16th. Woods missed the fairway for the first time off the tee, then had to punch out short of the green. He barely missed a 20-footer and made bogey to fall to even par.

On the par-3 17th, Woods three-putted from 47½ feet for a bogey. After making the turn at 1 over, Woods three-putted from 38 feet on No. 1. After another bogey on the second and a par on the third, Woods had a spectacular chip out of a greenside bunker but missed a