By Mark Lamport-Stokes
KOHLER, Wisconsin, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Near-perfect greens and an advantageous tee time did not help Tiger Woods' cause at the PGA Championship on Thursday as the former world number one struggled to a three-over-par 75 in the opening round.
Having missed the cut in his last two majors, Woods left himself nine strokes off the early lead and with plenty of work to do at Whistling Straits on Friday if he is to avoid missing a third in a row for the first time in his career.
More than once, the 14-times major champion cursed his misfortune on the beautifully manicured greens as he totalled 33 putts, despite benefiting from an early time in calm conditions before winds picked up later in the day.