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Rory McIlroy endured another frustrating day with the putter as he opened his US Open campaign with an erratic two-over 72 at Chambers Bay.
The world No 1 was in good touch from tee to green, but he failed to convert a number of birdie chances as he struggled to get to grips with the mottled putting surfaces.
McIlroy did get an early putt to drop for birdie at the 11th - his second - although he dropped shots at 14 and 15 before getting back to level par with a fine approach at the next and a putt to match.
Several further opportunities went begging as he parred the next eight holes, and his frustration got the better of him when he bogeyed two of the last three to slide seven shots off the lead.
But the 2011 champion refused to blame the poor quality of the green for his performance and insisted the course was set up "fair" for the tournament.
"They are not the best I have putted on but I should be used to it as the last two tournaments I've played have been just as bad," said McIlroy, who missed the cut in both the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and Irish Open at Royal County Down.
"I felt like I played well tee to green and gave myself a lot of looks but did not take advantage of the good shots I was hitting. There were a couple of misreads and a couple of bad strokes in there as well.
"It's hard to pick the line and trust it and then you start making tentative strokes and you are not getting a true roll on the ball. I need to work on that before tomorrow's round and see if I can figure something out."
McIlroy's Ryder Cup team-mate Henrik Stenson shared the early clubhouse lead with Dustin Johnson after both fired 65s, and the Northern Irishman added: "It was set up fair and you see some of the scores that are already in. There are definitely scores in the mid-60s are out there.
"It re-iterates what I was thinking, which is that you can be very aggressive with your tee shots. It's not a typical US Open where you are playing a game of chess."
