Tiger Woods conceded he was not as sharp as he needed to be during round one of the US Open on Thursday. (More Sports News)
Tiger Woods, who is a 15-time major winner, carded a four-over 74 at Pinehurst No 2, leaving him nine shots adrift of co-leaders Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy after Day 1 at the US Open golf tournament
Tiger Woods conceded he was not as sharp as he needed to be during round one of the US Open on Thursday. (More Sports News)
The 15-time major winner carded a four-over 74 at Pinehurst No 2, leaving him nine shots adrift of co-leaders Patrick Cantlay and Rory McIlroy.
Woods is making just a third start of the season as he focuses on being able to stay healthy for the majors but the 48-year-old acknowledged that is affecting his ability to compete.
In quotes reported by Sky Sports, he said: "I didn't hit my irons particularly well. Didn't putt that great. Drove it on the string all day, just unfortunately I just didn't capitalise on it.
"I was somewhat conservative in some of my end points. Then again, I didn't hit the ball very well either, so 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."
"I'm physically getting better as the year has gone on. I just haven't been able to play as much because I just don't want to hurt myself pre (majors), then I won't be able to play in the major championships.
"It's pick your poison, right? Play a lot with the potential of not playing, or not playing and fight being not as sharp."