Tiger Woods at US Open 2015: Thursday Leaderboard Score and Twitter Reaction

Tiger Woods is back…to shanking drives beyond playability, hitting errant approaches and tossing clubs in the air while cursing at himself in disgust.

On Thursday, the former world No. 1 continued his poor form, shooting a 10-over 80 to put himself in danger of missing the U.S. Open cut for the first time since 2006.

Playing the link-style Chambers Bay Golf Course for the first time, Woods looked completely out of sorts from the opening tee. He started the day with back-to-back bogeys on Nos. 1 and 2, setting up a round in which he carded eight bogeys, a triple-bogey and a birdie. 

Absolutely nothing—beginning with his tee shots and going down to his putter—was working for Woods. He hit just six of 14 fairways, nine of 18 greens and took 36 putts, putting him below the field average in every category. It was the type of round Woods himself didn't seem to expect, as he entered Thursday's first round espousing an optimistic tone.

"It's more of a commitment than anything else," Woods told reporters of the changes he's made to his game over recent years, per Bob Harig of ESPN.com. "I had to make a commitment and I have. And things are starting to come together piece by piece. All the big change is already in and now it's just refining it and actually now playing more golf, playing more tournament golf."

Unfortunately for Woods, the tournament golf he's been playing has been largely abysmal. The last time fans saw him on the course, he was finishing up the worst 72-hole stretch of his career at the Memorial Tournament. In a tournament he's won five times, Woods finished at 14 over, including an ugly 85 that serves at the worst round of his professional career.

While Woods never got quite to that point Thursday, he wasn't too far off. Playing alongside Rickie Fowler and Louis Oosthuizen, Tiger helped form the worst three-man group of the opening round. The trio went a combined 28 over par, with Fowler bringing up the rear at 11 over. It was a cataclysmic day for all three but especially for Fowler, who came into the U.S. Open with plans on winning his first major tournament.

Woods, who was an underdog to even make the cut this week, looked more likely at times to withdraw than go through the indignity of playing two rounds at such a low level. The most positive aspect of his round was a three-par stretch, allowing him to make the turn at four over.

Otherwise, it was a round of golf that bordered on sad. Woods spent a large part of his day trying—and rarely succeeding—to dig himself out of deep rough. Things went totally off the rails on the par-four 14th, which saw him bounce from bunker to bunker on his way to shooting a triple-bogey. He hit his first two shots into bunkers and then struggled to get up and down, spraying shots around the green before eventually two-putting his way to a seven.

After hitting his tee shot within seven feet on the par-three 15th, it appeared he would at least make up one of those shots with a relatively straightforward putt. But as he had all day, Woods struggled with the speed and wound up a foot away, tapping in for par. He would get that stroke back on the 16th, his only birdie of the day, but the damage was done.

The round oddly felt like one of those moments younger fans begin losing their so-called sports innocence. For the nearly two decades, Woods was the most bulletproof athlete on the planet. Even his losses and bad rounds were spectacular in their consistency. No one could turn a round that should have been a five-over endeavor into an even round that kept him in the hunt the way Woods could.

"

hit that exact shot last week. RT @erikmal: is this bad RT @TroyMachir: It’s over, buddy. https://t.co/lXIHitJy7n

— OHB (@ohholybutt) June 19, 2015"

Even after a 2014 mired by back injuries and poor play when he was on the course, there was a general belief that he'd be good—if not great—when fully healthy. Maybe he wouldn't break Jack Nicklaus' majors record, but one or two more titles wasn't out of the question. Perhaps even he and Rory McIlroy could have a Sunday moment at a major that would serve as a true passing of the torch.

Now, it's becoming increasingly clear we've reached Willie Mays-on-the-Mets territory. But unlike team sports, there is no manager or owner who can tell Woods he's done. A lifetime of triumphs gives him carte blanche to continue plugging and offering optimistic soundbites well into his 40s. It's theoretically possible we still have a decade of Tiger Woods golf left on the table.

But based on what we've seen over the last month, that may not be such a good thing. 

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.