Tiger Woods hits out of a bunker in Oakmont on Thursday. (AFP)

Through 15 holes at Oakmont Country Club on Thursday, Tiger Woods was two over par. If he missed an eight-foot par putt on No. 16, he would be three over, going the wrong way in the first round of the 107th US Open. But he made the putt. When he made a birdie on No. 17 with a three-foot putt and saved par on No. 18 with a pitch to about 3 feet after driving into the rough, he salvaged a one-over-par 71 that had him smiling.

“On this golf course, it’s fine,” he said a few minutes later. “It’s right there.”

Over the years, “right there” has been one of Woods’ favourite phrases, especially in a major. Right there is where he wants to be after the first of four rounds. Right there is reasonably close to the leaders, only three strokes behind Nick Dougherty of England and only three other golfers ahead of him going into the second round.

But in his 10 previous US Opens as a pro, merely being right there after the first round has never been good enough for him to go on and win.

So if Woods is to win at Oakmont in the hills above the Allegheny River, he will have to do what he has never done in the Open: come from behind after the first round. And he’s going to have to do it on what is being described as golf’s most difficult course.

After a 71, Tiger Woods may be right there, but if he is to win an Open coming from behind, he can’t stay right there. He has to climb closer to the lead, and he also has to lower the number of golfers he’s behind.