Day in hunt at US Open

Jason Day sits three shots off the lead and tied seventh after the opening round of the US Open, while Tiger Woods crashed to another dismal round.

Day shot a two-under-par 68 in the afternoon at the challenging Chambers Bay course while joint leaders Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson used receptive morning conditions to shoot five-under-65s.

It would be great to have finished four-under but I’ll take anything under par,” Day said.

“This is a marathon. It’s physically and mentally demanding.

“So I just have to keep myself in it and give myself a shot on Sunday hopefully. And hopefully it goes my way.”

Fourteen-times major champion Woods capitulated to a disastrous 10-over-80, his worst US Open score and second-worst major championship number behind an 81 made in terrible weather at the 2003 British Open.

It left him third last in the 156-man field.

American Patrick Reed sat third at four-under while countrymen Matt Kuchar, Ben Martin and amateur Brian Campbell shared fourth at three-under.

Former US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy shot 69 to be four off the pace and tied 14th while an ailing Adam Scott and fellow Australian Cameron Smith made solid starts with ever-par 70s.

Johnson was bogey-free until his final hole, carding six birdies and just the lone bogey while Stenson rolled home with four birdies in his last five holes.

Day bogeyed the third hole but bounced back with birdie on the fourth before closing out the front nine with back-to-back birdies to get two-under.

Further birdies at 12 and 14 pushed the Queenslander to just one shot off the lead before a tough double bogey on the par-three 15th stalled his run.

Day left his tee shot well short after the wind increased from the elevated tee and he drew a near impossible lie, forcing him to just hack the ball forward a few metres into the sand.

He was unable to get up and down from there.

A bounce back birdie righted the ship but a three-putt on the 17th and a missed birdie chance on 18 left him at 68.

Former world No.1 Woods continued to be a shadow of his former self, sending shots wide right and left, leaving bunker shots in the sand, letting go of clubs and even cold topping a shot on the final hole.

Marcus Fraser shot 71 to be six back while fellow Australians Kurt Barnes and John Senden settled for 72s to sit in a tie for 53rd with world No.1 Rory McIlroy.

Marc Leishman rounded out the Australian tilt at three-over.

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