This is how Tiger Woods’ day went in Thursday’s opening round of the Northern Trust at Liberty National: Not only did he rarely have honors at the tee boxes because of how poorly he was playing, he didn’t even have honors at one of those portable toilets when nature called during his back nine.

As bad as it was that Woods posted an alarmingly sloppy 4-over-par 75 on a day with course conditions so easy it felt like a 10 handicap might have a sniff at something in the 60s, he had to wait to take a leak before teeing off on the fourth hole, which was his 13th of the day.

Woods had just three-putted the third green, lipping out a three-foot par putt, and as he trudged to the fourth tee box toward the toilet, one of his playing partners, Scott Piercy, beat him to the loo.

So Woods waited his turn, then stuffed a terrific tee shot to about six feet on the par-3 fourth hole and promptly burned the lip with his birdie putt, settling for disappointing par.

It was that kind of day for Woods, who continues to curiously wander in the wilderness with his game since his energizing Masters victory in April.

“I just didn’t play well,’’ Woods said. “I was just off. Just one of those things where I just didn’t hit any good shots and didn’t make any putts. Other than that, added up to a round that broke 80.’’

This has become a familiar refrain for Woods, who since that Masters win has missed cuts at the PGA Championship and British Open, tied for ninth at the Memorial and tied for 21st at the U.S. Open.

“I was just trying to feel it, trying to find it, and then could never get it,’’ Woods said. “Then I got on a bad run there, a couple bogeys and a double.’’

The double bogey on No. 14, his fifth hole of the day, was eye opening. The par-3 is the shortest hole on the golf course, and Woods air-mailed the green with his tee shot, which landed on the edge of a creek, forcing him to take a penalty drop.

“I pulled a little 9 (iron),’’ Woods said. “I was trying to hit a flat 9 in there and I got steep on it (and) pulled it a little bit. I didn’t have a lie, either. I went down and took a look at it and the ball was sitting down. Even if I had a perfect line, it would have been one of those practice-round things, where as kids we might try and play it, and hopefully wouldn’t hit ourselves.’’

Meanwhile, the rest of the field, taking advantage of the rain-softened greens and no wind, was running away from Woods, who will begin Friday’s second round at least 13 shots off the lead, currently held by Troy Merritt after he shot a 9-under-par 62.

“We all knew it was soft out here with the rain (Wednesday) night,’’ Woods said. “I knew I had to go get it, post a low one, and didn’t do it. It’s certainly out there, certainly gettable. Greens are soft. Fairways are soft. You can play aggressively and not have any real ramifications for playing aggressive.’’

Woods, who stopped hitting full shots on the back nine on Wednesday’s pro-am because he said his back was stiff, said he was “a little stiff’’ Thursday, but did not use that as an excuse.

“It just feels frustrating to shoot anything high no matter how I feel,’’ he said. “We had the early tee time, we had the perfect greens, and had to go out there and shoot something under par and get it going. It had to be 4-, 5-, 6-under par today, (and) I went the other way with it.’’

Now what?

“I’m going to have to figure out a way to get this thing under par and hopefully move on and have a chance on the weekend to keep progressing and keep going lower,’’ Woods said. “I’ve got to get into the red at the end of the day tomorrow for sure.’’