SEATTLE — Day one of the U.S. Senior Open was everything Tom Bryant expected it to be — he just wishes he played better, he said.

Bryant shot a 9-over 79 to tie for 106 overall in the U.S. Senior Open Championship at Sahalee Country Club Thursday. Although his short game was on, Bryant said he’s been unable to hit well for a while, which translated over to the championship.

“I hadn’t hit the ball well all week, and for the past two months in fact, except for when I qualified,” Bryant said.

“I went out and hit balls for 45 minutes after we got through and worked on it, but I never really got it straightened out. I feel like I need to shoot a 69 or 70 tomorrow to make the cut. If I can get my hitting down I can do that, because I’ve actually been putting pretty decently.”

From looking at the scorecard, it appears Bryant’s troubles began in the last four holes. Bryant bogeyed the last four holes, but said the troubles began when he first teed off Thursday.

“I was 3-over going into the wrap, and the way I was hitting the ball, I was doing pretty well to be 3-over,” Bryant said.

“I had a bad tee shot on the sixth hole and double bogeyed, had bad tee shots on seven and eight and bogeyed those, and had a bad tee shot on nine that I double bogeyed.”

Despite the rough start, Bryant still enjoyed the atmosphere of being at the U.S. Senior Open.

“It was awesome. They treat you like kings here. I have family and friends here walking around and watching us, and there are spectators everywhere,” he said.

“If you do something well, they cheer for you. It’s an awesome experience. It’s a different environment than what I’m used to, and I love it. I just wish I was playing better.”

Bryant will tee off this morning at 9:05, and he said he hopes something will click for him in order to do better on day two.

“I just want to play better (today). If I can get a handle on my swing, I should be able to. We’ll see what happens,” Bryant said.