Tough start for Tiger

Defending champion Tiger Woods needed to be at his combative best to rescue par at the opening hole as the 109th US Open got under way under dark skies and in persistent drizzle at Bethpage Black.

With rain threatening to stay the course throughout the second major of the year, the par-70 New York monster – which saw only Woods manage a finishing score under par when it first hosted the championship in 2002 – was set to play even longer than its 7,426 yards, and the United States Golf Association were ready to keep their promise to move tee boxes forward during the week.

The world number one, who won his third US Open title in the sunshine at Torrey Pines last year with an epic 19-hole play-off victory over Rocco Mediate, got off to the worst possible start this morning when he hooked his opening tee shot some 40 yards left of the fairway.

Playing in a marquee group with Open and US PGA champion Padraig Harrington and this year’s Masters winner Angel Cabrera of Argentina, Woods’ second shot sent him into a greenside bunker but he still managed to get up and down for par on the 430-yard dog-legged opener.

Harrington and Cabrera were not so fortunate, both bogeying the par four as the rain grew stronger, with the Irishman three-putting.

Birdies were at a premium, with American JP Hayes the first player in the red numbers, breaking par at his first hole, the 508-yard par-four 10th, which played the most difficult of the 18 in 2002, only to give it up with a bogey at the 504-yard, par-four 12th, second most difficult in 2002.

Vijay Singh was another finding early success with a birdie at the shortest par-four hole, the 389-yard second.

And he was joined atop the developing leaderboard by American qualifier and former British Amateur champion Drew Weaver, who birdied the first par-five on the course, the 517-yard fourth.

Again, both Singh and Weaver were quickly back at level par, the Fijian with a bogey at the par-three third and the American bogeying the par-four fifth.

That left Argentina’s Andres Romero in front as he birdied his first hole at the 10th.

USGA vice-president and chairman of the championship committee Jim Hyler confirmed tees had been moved up at the seventh, ninth, 10th and 12th holes but the constant rain was already seeing puddling on the putting surfaces, with grounds staff using squeegees on the greens to clear surface water in between groups and also, at players' requests, between putts.

Harrington and Woods both asked for the crews to come in at the second as they and Cabrera moved on with pars.

Harrington was in trouble again at the fourth as he found thick rough off the tee, needing to thrash out just to get back on the fairway.

He overshot the green with his third shot but got to six feet from the hole with a lovely chip only to miss his par putt to slip to two over.

Cabrera got back to level par at the same hole while Woods continued his par run heading to the fifth.

That was where the world number one came unstuck for the first time, driving right into the rough and finding a front greenside bunker with his third shot.

Woods got to eight feet from there but missed his bogey putt and had to settle for a double, as did Harrington, who dropped to four over.

Playing one group in front of the reigning major champions, England’s Ian Poulter suffered a bogey at the second hole but got back on track with a birdie at fourth to sit one shot off the lead held briefly by playing partner Justin Leonard of the USA, who also birdied the fourth but then bogeyed the fifth.

American Jeff Brehaut, Australian Michael Sim and Canada’s Andrew Parr were the latest to slip into the lead with birdies on their cards on a day when level par was an achievement.

England’s world number three Paul Casey and playing partners Geoff Ogilvy and Jim Furyk were one over after three holes playing from the 10th tee, with Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, coming off a top-five finish last week in Memphis, also at one over after five.

English duo Lee Westwood and Simon Dyson were at two over alongside Woods after three and two holes respectively while their compatriot Luke Donald suffered a triple bogey at the 11th, his second hole, and was three over after three.

Simon Khan, one of nine Englishmen in the field, was five over after nine, with fellow qualifiers Richard Bland and David Horsey in even deeper trouble.

Bland, from Southampton, was six over after six having double-bogeyed the 10th and 13th either side of bogeys at 11 and 12, while Cheshire’s David Horsey was nine over after eight holes on the front nine having triple-bogeyed the first and sixth holes and bogeyed three, five and seven.