But the 22-year-old world number one was far from despondent after his five-under-par 65 on the 7,018-yard Royal Birkdale course left him sharing top spot with fellow American John Huston.

"I'm very pleased. I made a lot of good putts and I drove the ball very well. I could control my spin into the greens because I was on a lot of fairways," the 1997 Masters champion said.

Woods and Huston, who sleeps on a bed of magnets to cope with chronic tendinitis and bursitis, carded their fine rounds on a day of gentle breezes that made scoring conditions easier than they had been in practice all week.

Nick Price, the 1994 champion, stayed right on their heels with a 66 while Swedish qualifier Fredrik Jacobson and American Ryder Cup player Brad Faxon carded 67.

Lee Westwood, the world number seven, after his victory iin the Standard Life Loch Lomond, returned a 71 while Colin Montgomerie finished with a 73, turning two under par after six holes into three over by the end after a succession of fives on the back nine.

Five-times winner Tom Watson and three-times champion Seve Ballesteros also shot 73s.

More than half the field had still to complete their rounds but no one was threatening the leaders.

Woods, who has won nine titles since turning pro late in 1996, shot four birdies on the front nine with putts of 10 feet at the third, 12 feet at five, 20 feet at the short seventh and six feet at nine.

But he felt the key was a par at the second, where he struck his tee shot into thick rough and had to clear a greenside bunker with his approach.

"Realistically, I was facing bogey right in the eye. I thought if I got par I'd be lucky but fortunately the ball came out of the rough real good.

"It made me feel very good and I thought: 'it's time to let it go, to get going'," he said.

He missed a three-foot putt for par at the 183-yard 12th but made up for it with a 30-footer for birdie at the next.

Birdie fours at the 544-yard 15th and 577-yard 17th took him to six under but he missed the 18th green and chipped to eight feet from where the putt slid by the hole.

Woods felt coming over last week and playing with friends including his mentor, Mark O'Meara, and Payne Stewart in Ireland had helped relax him for the Open.

Huston parred the first nine holes then birdied three successive holes from the 10th, bogeyed 14 then sank a 40-foot putt to eagle the long 17th and birdied the last.

Huston has resorted to magnetic therapy this year to counter tendinitis in his right wrist and bursitis in his left shoulder which has in turn caused him some back trouble.

He also wears magnetic insoles in his shoes.

"I don't know why it works. They say it increases the blood circulation but it certainly leaves you feeling better," said Huston.

"Last year I would wake up not wanting to go to the golf course. It showed," he said.

After a decade of high placings on the U.S. Tour, he dropped down to 141st on the money list.

He resorted to the unusual treatment at the start of this year and stands ninth on the 1998 list, helped by a victory in the Hawaiian Open.

"I feel great. I made a 25-foot putt to save par on the first hole then played solidly through the front nine. On the back nine I had my chances and I was able to take them," he said.

Price, who won at Turnberry four years ago and who also took the PGA title in 1992 and 1994, bogeyed the first and 10th holes on his only two missed greens of the day. But he made six birdies, including four from between 12 and 22 feet.

"My game tee to green has been fine for 2-1/2 years but my putting has been the biggest problem," he said.

"I've not been making the bonus putts, like some of the ones I made today. The putter has been in the bag just making up the numbers.

"But I've worked on this at home in Florida the last two weeks and since the U.S. Open I've gone back to my old style of putter."

Completed First Round Scores