Johnson makes his move as Woods steadies the ship

Tiger Woods was in damage limitation mode while Dustin Johnson bared his teeth at the U.S. Open.

Dustin Johnson was on the move in round one of the U.S. Open as Tiger Woods steadied from a nightmare start on Thursday.

New world number one Johnson, a victor at last week's St. Jude Classic, was two under par through nine holes having hit three birdies and one bogey – including making a gain from a green-side bunker at the par-four eighth.

That left him in a share of the lead with Russell Henley, who was two under through 13 in his round.

Woods, a 14-time major champion, made a nightmare start with an ugly triple-bogey seven on the opening hole, and followed it up with another dropped shot at the second.

However, Woods, who was finding fairways easy to hit but not greens, played the final seven holes of the front nine in one under, and was three over at the turn. 

Justin Thomas was also in the Woods and Johnson group, and he was one over through nine. Thomas is ranked second in the world after Johnson surpassed him last week.

Woods' problems were indicative of the struggles endured by many of the game's elite players at Shinnecock Hills.

Rory McIlroy (10 over), Jason Day (nine over), Jordan Spieth (eight over) and Phil Mickelson (seven over) were among those to post high scores among the early starters.