Tiger Woods admitted to finding the going tough at The Open Championship

The American, who missed the first two majors of the year after undergoing back surgery in March, looked rusty on the opening two holes as and made a pair of bogey fives.

But, having pulled a shot back before the turn, the 14-time major winner sunk five birdies on the back nine to get home in three-under par at Hoylake, where he won the title in 2006.

"That was a rough start there, bogeying the first two," he told the BBC. "I stayed patient. I figured it was one of those days where someone would shoot seven-under par today and I had to just get in there and use the par fives I had to play.

"If you've been off a few months it can be tough, compound that with surgery and it's hard.

"My rounds at home were really good, I was excited at how I was playing at home. If I can do that at home, I can definitely do that here."