U.S. Open 2013: Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Adam Scott first round live updates

Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Adam Scott are back on the course to complete their first round. We're following the star-studded group - they're the top three players in the world rankings - live throughout the morning, and you can too below.

Through 18 (9:22 a.m.): Some whipping wind became a factor on 18. Downhill wind made ball placement on the green especially difficult. Scott again missed the fairway off of the tee, but sat only slightly on the fringe.

McIlroy found himself approaching the green from deep inside the side sand trap, and found himself having to two-put for a bogey.

Woods played the hole well, and finished it up with an even par.

[Woods +3, McIlroy +3, Scott +2]

Through 17 (9:04): A par 3, the 17th proved tough for the trio. Woods had to chip out of a bunker but left it slightly short, leaving him to two-put for birdie.

McIlroy sliiped a stroke, as did Adam Scott, putting all three of the world's best golfers at +2 or better after 17 holes.

[Woods +3, McIlroy +2, Scott +2]

Through 16 (8:32 a.m.): A gentle mist began to fall on the 16th tee, as Adam Scott again missed the fairway as his struggled continued.

Tiger did not kill the ball off of the tee, but his ball striking has been right on. He again had great green placement and gave himself a very makeable birdie put, but he was unable to capitolize. He finished up with a par.

All three players in the group ended the 16th at an even par.

[Woods +2, McIlroy +1, Scott +1]

Through 15 (8:17 a.m.): Rory got a clean swing off of the tee, but his ball took a tough bounce into a right bunker.

Adam Scott continued his rough start to the Open's second day, driving OB off the tee. Although he followed with a nice approach, he was unable to make up any ground, and was forced to two-put for a double bogey.

Woods was in the best position off of the tee, but the 15th proved especially brutal for the trio. With an excellent approach to the green, Tiger faired best, closing off the hole with an even par.

[Woods +2, McIlroy +1, Scott +1]

Through 14 (8:00 a.m.): As the wind blew in the players' faces, Woods finally got a clean tee shot off, hitting right down the fairway. McIlroy also found the fairway, with a shot a bit more to the right. Scott's tee shot was initially interrupted by a bird that flew right in front of him. Once the distraction passed, the Australian hit a driver down the left side that landed in some not-too-deep rough.

Woods took his second shot just under 200 yards away from the pin. He found the front edge of the long green hitting into the wind. McIlroy at first appeared to hook his second shot to the left, but it bounced back on to the green.

Scott was forced to chip out of the rough on to the fairway with his third shot.

[Woods +2, McIlroy E, Scott -1]

Through 13 (7:42 a.m.): On the notoriously tough and short 13th hole - it's just 115 yards - McIlroy nailed the green with his first shot. So did Scott, getting just enough backspin on his shot as a light rain started to fall. Woods had the best shot of the three, hitting a less-than-full stroke to practically pitch the ball on to the green.

Woods hit his birdie putt straight and true, drawing a big ovation from the early-morning crowd. Scott and McIlroy both missed their birdie attempts and made par.

[Woods +2, McIlroy E, Scott -2]

Through 12 (7:32 a.m.): The horn sounded to begin play at 7:13, and the trio got moving right away. Woods started by making the par put at 11 that he had left overnight. To start the 12th, he hit his tee shot into the deep rough to the right of the fairway. At first Open officials couldn't find the ball, but they eventually did. McIlroy and Scott fared better with their tee shots, easily finding the fairway.

Scott's second shot landed on the green, perhaps two yards short of the pin, but it came down on a steep slope and rolled all the way back to the fairway. Woods' second shot only made it about halfway to the hole, landing in rough at the edge of the green, and McIlroy landed close by. All three men found the green with their next shots.

McIlroy made his par putt. Woods missed a seven-footer that he really needed by at most two inches, and it rolled a further seven to eight feet on a slick green. Scott missed from about five feet as his shot rolled left of the hole. Both men made their bogey putts to finish the hole.

[Woods +3, McIlroy E, Scott -2]

On Thursday, the group teed off three and a half hours after their originally scheduled start time, thanks to the thunderstorms that stopped play at Merion in the morning.

When they finally got going at 4:44 p.m., Woods started slowly. He bogeyed three of the first five holes, and favoring his wrist on several shots from the rough. But then the rains returned, causing a 45 minute delay. When play resumed, Woods birdied the sixth, but a three-putt on the par-three ninth would send him back to two over.

Woods had this to say of dealing with the delays:

"It's kind of the way the Tour has been this year. We've had a lot of bad weather this year and this is the way it's been.

I've got a lot of holes to play tomorrow. And hopefully I can play a little better than I did today."

Scott, the self-admitted "third wheel" of this featured group, was impressive throughout, and finished with a birdie on the eleventh to move to three under before play was again suspended, this time due to darkness. Tiger was unable to finish putting before play was called, but he again appeared in pain after his tee shot found the rough. McIlroy, on the other hand, was able to finish, and a three-putt bogey would drop him to even par.

Here's a hole-by-hole recap of how Woods, McIlroy and Scott fared Thursday:

Through 11 (8:24 p.m.): Scott slapped the fairway on Merion's most waterlogged hole. He stared daggers into his shot, only to see it pluck the green not far from the hole.

Woods avoided a tree from the rough, but reacted VERY strongly in very clear pain at this point, possibly in the elbow. McIlroy got onto the green safely, but was not satisfied with his own efforts.

And after his painful display, Woods placed his shot from the rough in excellent position to the pin. From 40 feet out, McIlroy's ball ran past the hole a few feet, then missed his follow-up shot as well, finally settling for a bogey.

Scott slipped in a fine putt to go three under.

With Woods still needing to knock in a short putt, play was called for darkness.

[Woods +2, McIlroy E, Scott -3]

Through 10 (8:11 p.m.): Scott's drive leapt off the fairway and sat a foot or two in the rough, followed by McIlroy's, which stayed on the fairway several feet behind. Woods lagged behind AND took a bounce into the rough.

Eying the pin, Woods dropped a shot in striking distance - despite a second noticeable grimace. McIlroy's shot hit the ground and stayed there, several feet in front of the hole. Scott couldn't quite make it to Woods' ball and back pedaled a bit.

Scott pushed his putt up hill, sliding a bit to the left before finishing with par to start the back nine. Another fine looking stroke from McIlroy ended in disappointing par after the ball once again slipped around the cup. Woods followed suit, maintaining his trend of failing to follow through on short putts for the day.

[Woods +2, McIlroy -1, Scott -2]

Through 9 (7:56 p.m.): Scott led off number nine. Putting uphill, he couldn't quite get the momentum he needed and wound up with par for the hole.

McIlroy again narrowly avoided a bunker with his drive. His putt pumped the brakes and veered left. He left nine with par as well.

Woods muttered something negative at this drive as it left him, but it landed on the green regardless. After studying the left to right slope, he put a bit too much speed on his putt and watched the ball sneak right around the hole. Aiming for par, Woods' ball again slipped around the rim, forcing a bogey.

[Woods +2, McIlroy -1, Scott -2]

Through 8 (7:43 p.m.): McIlroy led off the eighth hole with a nice shot that caught a bad break when it landed in a hideous divot. Woods avoided the same and put himself in an amicable right-center position on the fairway. Scott completed the trifecta and stayed out of trouble, and the eighth started with three balls on the fairway.

Targeting far left, Woods gained some extra spin, avoided the bunker, and was sitting pretty on the green. Scott squared up, keeping his iron high, and managed to spin himself even closer than Woods. McIlroy did did battle with his divot, and sat about 15 feet from the pin with a powerful shot designed to get him out of trouble while avoiding any future trouble lurking in the bunker.

McIlroy's good-looking putt rolled right on by the hole, a hair from dropping in. Scott sunk his third birdie of the day, and Woods' putt lost too much speed before veering to the left and settling for par.

[Woods +1, McIlroy -1, Scott -2]

Through 7 (7:31 p.m.): Woods maintained his momentum with a strong, accurate drive, 148 yards from the hole. Scott's drive was successful, if not as distanced as Woods'. McIlroy landed beyond both of them with a smooth, balanced drive of his own.

All three wound up on the green following their second shots. McIlroy birdied on a lovely putt and put himself back under par.

Scott came up a bit short, inches from the hole, and tapped it in. Woods also lagged to the left, forced to take a par.

[Woods +1, McIlroy -1, Scott -1]

Through 6 (7:16 p.m.): McIlroy hung to the right and put his drive in the infamous rough so often cited in press conferences throughout the day. Working through the dense grass, he didn't make it very close to the pin. With a hefty divot, McIlroy wound up on the green with a little more distance between himself and the hole than Scott would. An overly aggressive putt had him settle for a bogey.

Scott tried to hit a cut, but wound up back in a left bunker for the second straight hole. Without much chance at the green, he landed on the fairway, out of the bunker and technically progress. His next attempt, however, was angled beautifully, and put him about a foot of home, after which he completed the hole without issue.

Woods, watched like a hawk after a wince at the last hole, put his shot in a decent spot on the fairway. From his good position, he landed a seemingly pain-free shot near the rear of the green. With that, Woods had the grand stand crowd raucously hooting with the day's fifth birdie on the sixth hole; an impressive putt from far out.

[Woods +1, McIlroy -1, Scott -1]

Through 5 (6:58 p.m.) [PLAY RESUMED]: With play resumed, McIlroy dropped his putt in and Woods hit his third bogey in five holes.

[Woods +2, McIlroy -1, Scott -1]

Through 5 (6:12 p.m.) [PLAY SUSPENDED BEFORE WOODS AND MCILROY PUTTED OUT]: With skies darkening and the rain starting to fall, Scott's drive went a bit sideways and roosted in the hazards to the right. Chipping out, Scott didn't get anywhere impressive but set himself up for par on the fairway. With a gorgeous pick, he landed on the green with no reason to be upset. Scott then slid past the hole with a bit too much gusto before dropping it in.

McIlroy drove into a rather central location on the fairway, from which he continued his good shooting with a friendly drop on the green. His next shot wound up a bit too strong, despite initially appearing spot-on.

Woods landed in the primary rough after what had deceptively appeared to be a promising drive. Aiming far left in hopes of the slope working for him, he winced after his shot, which landed in the back of the green. Woods appeared in pain after the shot, grasping his left wrist area.

After a clown yelped from the crowd in hopes of disrupting his shot, Woods was unable to recover and pushed his ball only about halfway to the pin. Trying for par, he fell short again, his ball curling far too early and weakly.

However, the klaxons then blared, signalling a suspension of play.

[Woods +1, McIlroy -1, Scott -1]

Through 4 (5:52 p.m.): Woods, with a stinger shot, put himself in the middle of the fairway. From there, he went with the sand wedge and got himself on the green, several yards above the hole before pushing a 25 foot putt about a foot short.

After a brief delay as Graeme McDowell and Zach Johnson finished up on the green, Scott dropped his shot in the bunker on the left. He successfully climbed out and put himself in an even better opportunity for a birdie than Woods or McIlroy and pushed it in with ease.

McIlRoy landed on the green, bouncing 10 feet beyond the pin and smoothly birdied.

[Woods +1, McIlroy -1, Scott -2]

Through 3 (5:34 p.m.): Woods (+1) put himself one over with a bogey, McIlroy (E) parred, and Scott (-1) birdied.

Through 2 (5:20 p.m.) - Woods birdied, McIlroy and Scott both parred again.

Through 1 (5:18 p.m.) -  Woods three-putted for a bogey after appear to injure his left wrist on just his second shot of Open.  McIlroy and Scott both made par.

Philly.com has complete coverage of the 2013 U.S. Open at Merion Golf Club.