91Èȱ¬

As Woods departed the ninth tee in his first round a spectator yelled: "It is our business Tiger. You made it our business." The comment attracted boos but they were for the heckler rather than for the golfer.

Interestingly, it was apparent that Woods was stung by the comment. He barely broke stride but there was a jump in his body language that suggested a blow had been landed and .

He three putted the ninth for his first bogey and on the 11th Woods missed his first green in regulation in that birdieless opening 74.

Woods's claim that the greens were awful was wide of the mark. Yes, they were bumpy but, proved they were eminently puttable playing just two groups ahead of the three time champion.

It was reading the lines and judging the pace that Woods found most difficult, and his feeling that the putting surfaces were not as they should be was probably encouraged by a woeful display on the greens from playing partner Ernie Els.

Woods, though, must be buoyed by the public support he is receiving here, a standing ovation on the first tee suggests he may be on the road to redemption with American fans.

His only other uncomfortable moment in the first round came at the 10th when he clearly was looking for a "comfort break". So too was playing partner Lee Westwood, who spotted some screens down the left side of the fairway that he hoped were shielding a portable toilet.

Westwood sprinted off to make use of the imagined facilities with Woods in pursuit and both were disappointed to find nothing behind the screens. Officials then scurried to clear a path to the public restrooms alongside the 11th to enable a stop one hole later.

It doesn't seem like the spectating experience is proving altogether comfortable at Pebble Beach. A reader of the excellent posted a worrying account of his experience after joining a queue for a bus to leave the course on the first evening.

"I got into line for the shuttle bus at 7.19 tonight... and got into my car at 10.07," he said. "The line to even get on the bus was more than two hours. Although the crowd was remarkably well-behaved under such circumstances, people did start booing and yelling."

The brickbats are apparently for the rather than the fallen Woods at this US Open.