Mike Celizic

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. - For Tiger Woods it was the perfect storm. On Thursday, he was hammered for six holes by rain. On Friday, he was laid low by the mud it left behind.

He walked off the course around 10 a.m. after dropping four shots on his final four holes to stumble home with a 4-over 74. He wasn’t happy, but he didn’t seem overly concerned. As the fairways dried during the day, he expected that the mud that deflected several of his shots would affect those who followed him.

“It’s only going to get worse,” Woods said. He didn’t offer it as a prediction, but as a statement of fact. It would prove to be every bit as true as “Mission Accomplished.”

By early afternoon, spectators were amazed by the bright yellow ball pouring brilliant light and radiant heat onto the waterlogged Bethpage Black course that Woods had played in the morning. Meteorologists explained that the unfamiliar object is called the “sun,” but warned that it may not be seen again.

The mud that Woods predicted would bedevil players who teed off after him failed to be a problem. Instead, the second wave of golfers playing their first round on the tournament’s second day battered Bethpage.

Mike Weir, Canada’s lefty, shot a blistering 6-under 64. Somebody named Peter Hanson was second at 4 under. David Duval, who hasn’t been seen on a leaderboard since dinosaurs roamed the earth, was in with two others at 3 under. Rocco Mediate carded a 68, and America’s Lefty, Phil Mickelson, easily the gallery darling, finished an adventurous round at 1 under.

A total of 25 golfers were at even par or better after one round and 52 shot better than Tiger’s 4 over. Of the 13 golfers who finished under par, only two played with the early group. Everyone else played in the ideal conditions that came later.

They say you can’t win the U.S. Open in the first round, but you can lose it. That might be the case for Woods. Going into Saturday, he's 10 strokes behind and tied for 65th place. And if the weatherman is right about what’s ahead for the weekend, the best conditions anyone will see have already come and gone, and not a minute of them will have happened with Tiger on the course.

Bethpage has three lines of defense. The first is its daunting length. The second is the thick rough, cavernous bunkers and tight fairways. The third is its severe greens.

On Friday morning there was a fourth: muddy golf balls. Three times Tiger picked up mud on his ball and three times it caused him grief. Two of the mud balls occurred on his final four holes when what had been a decent day turned into a disaster.

Video   U.S. Open highlights: Day 2 June 19: A disappointing back nine dropped Tiger Woods to 4 over after the first round. Watch highlights from his day as well as shots from Angel Cabrera, Adam Scott and Ian Poulter. NBC Sports

By afternoon, mud wasn’t a problem. And the greens, still soft from all the rain that had fallen on the course Thursday, were like dartboards. It didn’t matter what you hit into them — 3-wood or wedge — the ball was stopping. Players were shooting for the pins and making putts.

Those players got a double dose of good fortune because after finishing their rounds in mid-afternoon, they got to tee it up again on a course that was getting friendlier by the minute. The early group from Thursday, meanwhile, would have to wait until Saturday afternoon to begin their second tour of Bethpage. And by then, the whole place could be under water again.

We all know that accuracy often is to weather reports was dispassionate objectivity is to a Rush Limbaugh broadcast. And even a forecast that says there’s at least a 70 percent chance of nasty weather Saturday means that three times out of 10, that forecast is going to be wrong.

So Woods could luck out on Saturday with the weather. He’s going to have to hope he does. Because right now, he’s all but out of the tournament. And if the weather closes in again on Saturday and Sunday, there’s no way he or anyone can make up 10 strokes on great golfers on this course.

He’ll have to hit a pocket of perfect weather while the crew that made so much hay while the sun was shining Friday get a dose of what he went through in his first round. And even then, making up that many strokes and climbing over that many golfers is as daunting a task as anyone has ever faced.

Tiger hit the ball well — very well, in fact. But the luck of the draw had him playing when almost no one could score.

With Woods, you never say never. But sometimes you do have to say improbable, unlikely and damned near impossible. This is one of those times, one of those few times when Tiger’s tournament is over almost before it began.

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