Stenson and Johnson share lead as Woods cards disastrous opening round at US Open

Swede Henrik Stenson shares the lead after the first round with Dustin Johnson on five-under-par ©Getty Images

Sweden’s Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson of America shared the lead on five-under-par as 14-time major champion Tiger Woods carded his worst-ever first round with a 10-over-par 80 on the opening day of the US Open at Chambers Bay.

Johnson was in good touch throughout as he enjoyed a bogey-free first 17 holes and despite a poor tee shot on the final hole, he managed to cement his position in joint top on the leaderboard.

Stenson, meanwhile, was inconsistent on the front nine before a surging late run of four birdies from the last five holes ensured he entered the clubhouse level with his American counterpart.

But it was Woods, who despite his lowly world ranking of 181 still harbours hopes of performing well enough over the next year to earn a spot on the United States Olympic team for Rio 2016, who attracted all the headlines.

The three-time US Open winner struggled in the majority of his round with a series of wayward drives and missed putts, beginning the day with two straight bogeys.

A particular lowlight for the American came when he attempted to scoop the ball from the rough but he ended up accidentally throwing his club behind him.

His disastrous opening to the tournament leaves him 15 shots off the lead and even at this early stage, his target must now be to avoid an embarrassing early exit by making the cut.

“It's one of those things, I've just got to work through it," Woods said.

"I'm trying as hard as I can to do it, I just can't get the consistency that I'd like to have out there.”

Tiger Woods endured a torrid first round by carding a 10-over-par 80 ©Getty Images

The US Open competition has been won by a European for five of the last six years but aside from Stenson, Scotland’s Marc Warren is the only one from the continent in the top six.

Others who are not far off the lead are American duo Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar, on four-under-par and three-under-par respectively, while Masters winner Jordan Speith and Australian Jason Day are three shots adrift of the lead.

The course itself attracted criticism from several of the players, with Spaniard Sergio Garcia saying “the greens are as bad as they look on TV”.

American veteran Phil Mickelson has also voiced his criticism, adding: "Everyone in the field is going to struggle with three- to eight-foot putts when they are downhill because you can't hit it hard enough to hold the line and there is a lot of wiggle."