Tiger Woods of the United States pulls a club from his bag during a practice round prior to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort on June 12, 2024 in Pinehurst, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
It’s hard to imagine what a successful Thursday will be for Tiger, considering he has played only seven full rounds through the first five-and-a-half months this year. He won’t have to make a lot of birdies to keep pace like at Valhalla, but good pars and his ability to scramble around the greens at Pinehurst will be pivotal if he wants to make the cut and contend. We’ll know early what to expect from Woods with how he handles the tricky greens.
The warm weather should help his body, plus Pinehurst is by far one of the easiest walks he’s going to have for a major championship, and he also will have plenty of recovery time before Friday’s second round, but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. If he shows his prowess around the greens and can shoot in the 72-74 range (without knowing what other scores will be, thinking -1 or -2 will be the lead), one has to think that will be a successful opening round.
