Mamaroneck, N.Y. ? This wasn’t the return Tiger Woods had in mind.

Three holes into the U.S. Open, he already was 3 over par. He heard more groans than cheers, which happens when the No. 1 player in the world hits three short shots – from the rough, a drop area and a bunker – that sail over the green. All that saved him Thursday was playing the final six holes in 1 under to shoot 76, his worst start ever in a major.

“Just got off to a bad start,” Woods said. “With the wind blowing as hard as it was, it was going to be hard to make up shots. And I didn’t. I lost ground.”

Colin Montgomerie was surprised, too, only it brought a smile instead of a scowl.

The best player without a major showed on a sun-baked afternoon at Winged Foot that perhaps it’s not too late. Recovering from a rugged start, Montgomerie played to his strengths by keeping the ball in the short grass. He was the only player to break par, a 1-under 69 that put him atop the leaderboard in the U.S. Open for the first time in nine years.

“It’s going to be difficult when you’ve got the world’s best players and there’s only one guy under par,” Montgomerie said. “That’s got to be difficult. And it was today.”

It was the toughest start to a U.S. Open since 1986 at Shinnecock Hills, when no one broke par in the opening round. Twenty-two players failed to break 80 this time, and 35 players – including defending champion Michael Campbell and two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen – failed to make a single birdie.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson opened with a 70, a solid start in his bid for a third consecutive major, and spoke for just about everyone else at Winged Foot when he was asked how he felt.

Colin Montgomerie hits out of a bunker on the 13th hole. Montgomerie was the only player to break par on the opening day of the U.S. Open. He shot a 69 on Thursday at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

“I feel a whole lot better now that the round is over,” Lefty said.

The focus was on Woods, playing for the first time since his father died. He ended his nine-week break by hitting only three fairways, one so wide to the right that he had to hook his next shot over a corporate tent. Woods looked somber at times, although that was more likely a product of Winged Foot than memories of his father.

“Everyone was looking for me to be more emotional,” he said. “But I’m trying to put the ball in the hole and win the championship.”

Mickelson did that fairly well. He holed a pair of 30-foot birdie putts and a bunch of short ones for par that proved equally important in keeping his score at even par. Also at 70 were Jim Furyk, David Howell, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Steve Stricker.

Howell managed to make six birdies and was 4 under par with four holes to play. But he started missing fairways, which inevitably left him testy putts for par, and dropped four shots down the stretch, three-putting for double bogey on the 18th.

“Once I calm down a bit, it’s still level par and it’s a good round of golf,” Howell said. “But right now I’m frustrated, and I’m fed up.”

Mickelson didn’t even bother trying to explain the degree of difficulty at Winged Foot, with rough so thick that volunteers scurried into the deep grass to place tiny flags next to the errant tee shots so they wouldn’t be lost.

“You’ve had to go play it to grasp it,” he said. “It’s the toughest test we have all year.”

It surely was a test of patience.

Phil Mickelson chips from the rough on 17 during the first round of the U.S. Open. Mickelson carded an even-par 70 Thursday at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Montgomerie was 2-over after his first three holes and then holed a 10-foot par putt on the par-5 fifth that turned his fortunes. He started finding the short grass and kept his ball below the hole. The 42-year-old Scot was runner-up to Woods at St. Andrews last summer, the only time he has been in contention at a major in the last five years.

Perhaps that’s why he was able to keep this 69 in perspective.

“My God, we’ve only walked seven miles,” Montgomerie said. “There’s a long way to go.”

It felt like a marathon, players plodding along as they looked for relief from a course that demanded accuracy off the tee and precision to the greens and left no time to breathe easy until the ball was in the hole.

Vijay Singh, coming off his first victory of the season last week at Westchester, had a steady round of 71 to join former Masters champion Mike Weir, John Cook and Fred Funk, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Wednesday.

Mickelson was wild at the start of his round in the morning, under cool, overcast skies. He missed six consecutive greens, but left himself in decent shape to save par and did that five straight times. Then came a 30-foot birdie on his ninth hole, No. 18, which showed how much his preparation paid off.

He started the ball well to the right and watched the severe slope guide it back toward the hole until it disappeared, setting off a raucous cheer from the New York fans who again made the Californian feel at home.

“I had hit that putt a bunch in practice, and the first couple times I stroked it, I missed it 2 feet left or low and 3 or 4 feet short,” Mickelson said. “I ended up playing about 8 or 10 feet of break and it swung right in there.”

That was one of the few thrills on this day at Winged Foot.

Ernie Els saved a pedestrian round of 4-over by holing out from the ninth fairway for eagle and a 74. Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen didn’t fare as well, failing to make a single birdie in his round of 77.

Woods last was seen inside the ropes on Sunday at the Masters, where a balky putter kept him from making a charge, and he had to settle for a tie for third. More than two months later, not much changed. He missed par putts of 8 feet, 7 feet and 6 feet on his opening holes. He said the greens were slower than he expected for a U.S. Open and he failed to adjust.

“The first three holes … I cost myself three shots,” Woods said.

He tried to reach the 321-yard sixth hole with his tee shot and was in decent shape to the left until flying the next shot over the green. After hitting his approach over the corporate tent and into the grandstand – on purpose – he was able to take a free drop and pounded that one through the green, needing to make a 6-footer to escape with bogey.

Woods wasn’t so lucky on the 640-yard 12th, when his third shot found a bunker. Instead of getting up and down, his shot went up and away, over the green. Double bogey.

He has won only one of his 10 majors when he shoots over par in the first round, opening with a 74 at the Masters last year.

“I’ve just got to plod along; shoot under par the next two days, I’ll be right there,” he said.

Considering there was only one round under par Thursday, that might be a tall order. Woods was told that only Ben Hogan in 1951 at Oakland Hills and Jack Fleck in 1955 at Olympic Club had started with a 76 and gone on to win the Open. That brought a rare smile.

“It’s been done before, hasn’t it?” he said.