At Open, Counting the Damage on the First Six Holes The first six holes at the Olympic Club have lived up to their billing as a daunting test for the world's best players at the United States Open. In Saturday's third round, the opening six were played at 133 over par by the 72 golfers in the field. That computes to an average of 1.85 over par for each golfer. By comparison, the entire course was playing to an average of just over 72 strokes, which means almost all of the over-par play was being generated over Nos. 1 through 6. Who were the players most affected in the third round? Let's start with Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk and David Toms, the three co-leaders heading into Saturday's play at one under. Woods played the opening six at three over, with bogeys at Nos. 1, 3 and 6. The stretch dropped him to two over for the tournament, where he remained for most of the third round. Furyk, Woods's playing partner, was almost as shaky, playing the first six holes at two over, with his bogeys coming at Nos. 1 and 5. Toms saw his Open chances nearly erased when he played the first six at five over. By the time Toms reached No. 7, he was four over for the tournament. Players who improved their Open chances on Saturday by playing under par on Nos. 1 through 6 were Retief Goosen, Lee Westwood and Webb Simpson. All three were one under par during the opening stretch. Goosen birdied No. 6, the toughest hole on the course, while Westwood birdied No. 5, with pars on the other holes. Simpson made all pars after birdieing No. Ernie Els bucked the trend by playing the opening six at three over before playing himself into contention by playing the final 12 holes at five under. Els's fortunes were greatly enhanced when he chipped in for an eagle on No. 17, the par 5 that has played as the easiest hole on the course through the first three rounds. So did Blake Adams, who was four over par on the opening six before playing the rest of the course at four under to shoot a par 70. But for most golfers, the opening six holes seemed to shape how the rest of their round unfolded.