DETROIT – Gary Woodland’s first round as a major champion finished as he had hoped – but only after starting with disaster.

Woodland nearly holed his final approach shot Thursday at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, tapping in and smiling at greenside fans as he scooped his fourth birdie over his final six holes. But that rally still left him with a 1-over 73 on a day when most of the field bettered par, as the U.S. Open champ at one point found himself in last place among the 156-man field before bouncing back.

“I was off from the start,” Woodland said. “Probably had the best warm-up session of the year, was great on the range. My timing was off. I was probably really excited to play today, I was excited to be out there. … I was just quick.”

Woodland spent two days after the U.S. Open doing a cross-country media tour, and he didn’t get on the ground in Detroit until Tuesday afternoon. Still receiving congratulations for his major victory at every turn, he admitted his game plan may have taken a hit because of his whirlwind itinerary.

“I definitely didn’t get prepared as much as I like to, but that’s no excuse,” Woodland said. “Timing was just off, but I can fix that. I’ll go home and get some rest and we’ll be back at it early in the morning.”

Woodland bogeyed his very first hole, and after making only four bogeys over 72 holes en route to his breakthrough win at Pebble Beach he stumbled to four straight bogeys on Nos. 8-11 to drop to the bottom of the pack.

He steadied things from there, sparking a turnaround with a birdie on No. 13, and there’s still hope that Woodland can build on his late momentum and play his way back into the mix. But with the cut line likely in the range of 4 under, he realizes there’s work to be done if he’s going to avoid an early exit in what is expected to be his final start before The Open.

“It’s definitely out there,” he said. “Obviously you saw 9 under out there today, and there’s four par-5s that I can get home to. Drive the ball in play and attack from there.”