Montgomerie leads, Woods "works butt off" at British Open

Colin Montgomerie equalled his best ever British Open round of 65 to take a three shot-lead after the first round on Thursday.

But defending champion Tiger Woods struggled all day and was grateful to scrape in at level par 71 having missed six of 14 fairways and landed in five bunkers.

"I had to work my butt off out there but I kept myself in it," said the American.

Montgomerie, who had a 65 in the third round of 1994 but who had never broken 70 in 11 previous Open first rounds, blazed out over the first 10 holes and then scrambled home with a series of great saves and a rousing birdie on the last to finish six-under par.

He then sat back to watch with growing satisfaction as the rest of the field failed to mount any serious challenge to his mark.

American duo Brad Faxon and Chris Di Marco and Finnish outsider Mikka Ilonen were three behind on 68 with more than a dozen players a further shot back on 69.

The 130th Open began with the wild winds of the last few days replaced by calmer conditions while Montgomerie started with back-to-back birdies then chipped in for an eagle at the par-five sixth.

ON TARGET

The Scot's hopes of a first major largely depend on his putting and he was on target on Thursday as he birdied eight, nine and 10.

Great recovery chipping and putting on the way home kept his lead intact and he finished with a flourish by sinking from 20ft for birdie on the last.

"I've never started well in a British Open before," said Montgomerie, who has missed the cut in five of the last nine Opens. "The whole psyche of the championship now changes for me. I had the pace of the greens today and that was the key."

Woods also started with a birdie but after avoiding sand for all four rounds en route to victory at St Andrews last year the champion fell foul of Lytham's 196 traps for the first time at the fourth where he dropped a shot.

His tee shots were way off line and several times he had to rescue himself with booming irons from deep in the rough.

Two more birdies were cancelled out by two bogeys but it could have been much worse -- something the champion was well aware of.

He said: "When you don't really have it but end up at even par and still in the championship...I feel pretty good about it."

Faxon showed his famed putting talents as he eagled the par-five sixth and followed up with two consecutive birdies before settling down to a 68.

HARSH WORDS

And he had a few harsh words for those of his compatriots who chose not to make the trip across the Atlantic.

"I think only two U.S. tour players came over to qualify this year, and I think that's pretty sad," he said. "You don't see any of the top players skip the major championships."

Jeff Maggert, one of the Americans who did come over for qualifying and won through, recorded a rare albatross when he holed a six-iron from 220 yards for a two on the sixth.

Maggert, who ended with a 72, was one of a host of players who reached three under only to fall away over the tough closing holes.

Former Masters champion Fred Couples was also going well at three-under until he became stuck in a greenside bunker on the 15th and after needing four shots to get out took a triple bogey seven and an eventual 71.

Jim Furyk fared even worse as he carded an incredible 10 at the par-five 11th to help transform his round from two-under to a six-over 77.

Last year's joint runners-up enjoyed differing fortunes as Ernie Els overcame his back injury for a 71 while Thomas Bjorn, on a roll of two successive European Tour second places, carded a 76 that included a triple bogey eight at the seventh. U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen of South Africa dropped five shots in his last five holes to post a modest 74.