Jim Furyk, the 2003 US Open winner, was left scratching his head after a frustration-filled first round at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at Port Royal Golf Course yesterday.

The American, who believed that he had dropped three shots on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes, was adamant that he had played far better than his score of one over par suggested, leaving him seven shots behind leader Martin Kaymer.

“I actually played a lot better than the score and pretty much gave up three shots on the last three holes, which made it look a little worse than it was,” Furyk said.

“I hit the ball pretty well and didn’t play that poorly, but got absolutely zero out of the round today.

“I just kind of let everything come down and ended up one over. I’m scratching my head because I thought I could play better than that.”

Furyk, the runner-up in the Major Champions Points List, which charts the performance throughout the year of active major champions, replaced defending champion Adam Scott, who was unable to compete because of a scheduling conflict.

Despite propping up the elite foursome at the midway point, the American refused to rule himself out of the contention for the “pink jacket”, which he won at the 2008 Grand Slam at Mid Ocean Club.

“I’m not done but I’m going to need a lot of help, being seven shots back,” Furyk said. “I feel like I’m playing well enough and can fire a good number tomorrow.

“Obviously, if Martin goes out and shoots four under par, that definitely takes me out of the equation for winning. But I’m going to give it a go: go out and play as hard as I can and try to shoot a good score.”

The 44-year-old, who was part of the United States team that lost to Europe at the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, put his disappointing score largely down to poor wedge play.

He also conceded that the other three players had mastered the windy conditions better than he had.

“One of the strengths of my game is with my wedges, but my wedge game was awful today,” said Furyk, who was playing his first competitive round at Port Royal.

“It was maybe one of the worst rounds of the year with the wedge.

“It’s not a power golf course; power has nothing to do with playing well on this course.

“I realise those three [Kaymer, Rory McIlroy and Bubba Watson] are all very long, but they’re also very good at scoring.

“Bubba can hit a lot of shots and work it into the wind, Rory’s obviously able to do that, being the No 1 player in the world, and Martin is a good ball striker.

“Power isn’t part of it, but they moved the ball better than I did today.”