Woods starts with round of 69

Woods chips onto the 5th green during his first round of the 2014 British Open at Royal Liverpool in Hoylake. PHOTO BY AFP

What you need to know:

Golf. Tiger Woods is looking for his 15th major title

Liverpool- Rory McIlroy leads the Open after shooting a bogey-free six-under opening round of 66 at Royal Liverpool.

The Northern Irishman has endured an inconsistent spell of recent form, struggling to back up impressive first-round performances the following day.

At Hoylake on Thursday, he produced three birdies either side of the turn to lead Matteo Mannassero by a shot.

Tiger Woods picked up five birdies in six holes as he carded a three under par opening round of 69.
Asked if it constituted a perfect round, McIlroy told BBC One: “It sort of does, especially in the first round of an Open. I couldn’t ask for anymore.
“I stuck to my gameplan, focused on the par fives and tried to pick up other shots. For the most part my ball was under control and I’m very happy.

“I’m playing well, swinging the club really nicely, holed some nice putts and I’ll try to continue to do that and hopefully have another solid round tomorrow.

I won’t approach it differently.”
Woods, who is targeting victory at Hoylake despite struggling with injury all season, started his round with successive bogeys.

But after getting a shot back on the fifth, the 14-time major winner made five birdies and a bogey in six holes from the 11th to move to three under.