FP – Tiger Woods made birdie at the first hole, only to watch his day go racing downhill from there.

By the time it was over, Woods skidded to seven bogeys and a six-over-par 76 on Saturday, tumbling down the leaderboard and matching his worst round as a pro at the US Open.

That left him 10 strokes behind third-round leader Phil Mickelson, the only player under par at the short but devilishly tough Merion Golf Club.

Despite leading the PGA Tour in putting in recent weeks, Woods needed 36 putts on the severely undulating greens.

He blamed his inability to gauge the speed of those baffling putting surfaces for his three days of uneven play – and he was right.

Woods has averaged 32 putts per round, leaving him tied for 53rd in the field of 73 players.

“It’s certainly frustrating because I was feeling like I was playing well this week and I just didn’t make the putts I needed to make,” he said.

“Basically, I just didn’t have the speed right this week and it certainly showed.”

This US Open marks exactly five years since Woods won his last major, at Torrey Pines, which he captured in a playoff against Rocco Mediate, despite hobbling around with ligament damage.

His pursuit of Jack Nicklaus’ career record of 18 majors remains stalled at 14.

Woods also shot a 76 in the final round at Shinnecock Hills in 2004, as well as two rounds of 76 at Winged Foot in 2006 when he missed the cut.

Woods’ worst round ever at an Open was a 77 at Oakland Hills in 1996, when he was a 19-year-old amateur.

Rory McIlroy, the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA Championship winner, also struggled on Saturday.

He fired a 75 to stand on 218, a share of 25th, but the Northern Ireland prodigy realised his title hopes were gone.

“It would take something unbelievable and the scores aren’t that low out there,” McIlroy said.

“I guess, if I play well, try and get in the top 10, that would be realistic.”

“You get on the wrong side of the greens and it’s just frightening because I didn’t feel like I played too badly.”