Woods satisfied with his 71 in tournament's first round

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Tiger Woods flipped an iron toward his bag in disgust. As another tee shot sailed right, he grumbled "Tiger!" And when a putt that would be a gimme anywhere else rolled several feet past the hole, he stared at it, stunned.

So, Tiger, how did that round go for you?

"On this golf course, it's fine, it's right there," he said.

Better than that. With a 1-over 71 Thursday, Woods was just three strokes off the lead at the U.S. Open with only four players in front of him. The rain that fell Wednesday afternoon didn't make Oakmont Country Club any easier, and red numbers were as scarce as trees on the course.

Nick Dougherty (68) and Angel Cabrera (69) were the only players under par, and Bubba Watson and Jose Maria Olazabal were even par. Woods was in a pack with 15 others, including defending champion Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk.

"If you shoot even just 3, 4, 5 over par, you're still in the tournament," Woods said. "You know that you're going to get some bad breaks and some good ones, and go along with it. If you make a mistake, accept the ramifications of it."

Woods has won four of the last nine majors, and is a two-time U.S. Open champion. But he hasn't won the Open since 2002, and last year he didn't even make it to the weekend, missing the cut at a major for the first time as a professional.

Of course, his life was much different then.

Winged Foot was the first tournament he played after the death of his father, Earl, and it was clear neither his heart nor his mind were ready.

Now, Woods is in a much happier place. He's a few weeks from becoming a father for the first time, and he's won three times already this season, best on the PGA Tour.

"It was conservative today. That's how you normally play U.S. Opens," he said. "You don't play it aggressively."