World number one McIlroy is set to begin his second round at 10:28pm Irish time seven shots off the overnight lead shared by Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson, who set the pace from the outset with five-under-par rounds of 65 early on Thursday.

The Irishman was left frustrated with his putting after a disappointing opening-round two-over 72 at the US Open but the world number one can't have been half as mystified with his game as Woods was proving during another desperately bad round for the 14-time major winner.

McIlroy will have to put in a big improvement with his putter over the next three days here at Chambers Bay if he is to add to his haul of major championship victories. Yet his problems were proving minimal in comparison to former number one and three-time US Open winner Woods, whose latest swing modifications under new coach Chris Como continued to bedevil his competitive play.

Eight years on from his most recent major victory at the 2008 US Open, 39-year-old shot a horrible 10-over 80 by the shores of Puget Sound in America's Pacific Northwest.

It was his worst US Open round since shooting 77 as an amateur in 1996 and only one shy of his highest score in a major, the 81 he shot at Troon in the 2002 Open. At least he could put that down to horrendous weather conditions.

On a benign day on Thursday, Woods's frustration with his game was all too plain to see as he slammed his driver into the ground after another errant tee shot at the seventh and then loosened his grip after a poor shot out of the rough on the next hole, sending his iron flying through the air as the ball sailed over the fairway into the rough on the other side.

All facets of his game were misfiring, with Woods hitting just five of 13 fairways and nine of 18 greens, while he was averaging two putts per hole and lagging behind the field average of 1.83.

Woods did manage a birdie, his one bright spot on an awful day coming at the par-four 16th but his round was encapsulated by a duffed second shot on 18, the once-dominant American topping his three wood with the ball nestling deep in the cross bunker known as Chambers Basement.

He closed with a bogey, his 80 coming just a fortnight after posting a third-round 85 at the Memorial but did allow himself a smile with an equally bewildered playing partner Rickie Fowler, a pre-tournament favourite who had an even worse day with an 11-over 81.

“The bright side is at least I kicked Rickie's butt today,” Woods joked.

Asked to describe his feelings about his round, he replied: “Not very happy, that's for sure. It was a tough day. Got off to a bad start. I stuck that six-iron in the ground on the first hole, and then just couldn't quite get it turned around today.

“It's one of those things, just got to work through it. I'm trying as hard as I can to do it, and for some reason I just can't get the consistency that I'd like to have out there.

“I know when I do it right, it's so easy. It just feels easy to control, easy to do it, easy to hit all my shots. I just need to do it more often and build from there.”

By contrast to Woods, McIlroy's game from tee to green had left the Ulsterman more than satisfied after an opening round featuring two birdies, four bogeys and 30 putts that sent him back to the practice putting green immediately after the Irishman had completed his post-round media commitments.

“It was frustrating, especially how I felt I hit the ball from tee to green,” McIlroy said. “I drove the ball great. I hit my iron shots very, very well. Even when you hit good iron shot, getting it to 25, 30 feet is a good shot at times. I felt like I gave myself enough chances out there to convert a few and wasn't able to do that.

“Missed a couple of short-ish putts on the last few holes there and definitely thought it was a day where you could shoot under par and I didn't take advantage of that.”

Still, McIlroy felt he could post a low score on Friday if he could iron out his putting issues.

“I definitely think so if I can keep hitting the ball as well as I did off the tee. And if I can hit my irons, I hit a lot of fairways and greens, I just didn't quite have it with the putter today and that's something that I need to get right over the next three days if I want to have a chance.”

The only low point of Dustin Johnson's opening round was his first bogey of the day at the par-three ninth, his final hole, which denied the American his first bogey-free US Open round.

Johnson and Stenson are a shot clear of American Patrick Reed, whose compatriots Matt Kuchar, Ben Martin and amateur Brian Campbell, who will start the second round in third place after three-under 67s.

Masters champion Jordan Spieth is part of a seven-man group also containing Jason Day on two under following a 68 while a shot further back is a group including Ireland's Shane Lowry, who sank a 20-foot birdie putt at the eighth, his penultimate hole, on the way to a one-under 69.

Lowry shares 14th place with, amongst others, Scotland's US Senior Open champion Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Phil Mickelson, while Bubba Watson finished on level par and defending champion Martin Kaymer on two over alongside McIlroy.