July 22, 2006	Saturday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 25, 1427

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HOYLAKE (England), July 21: Qualifier Graeme McDowell fired a flawless six-under-par 66 to take a one-shot lead after the first round of the British Open on Thursday with champion Tiger Woods lurking in a five-way tie for second place (partly reported in Friday’s edition).

Briton McDowell reeled off three consecutive birdies from the ninth, where he holed out from a bunker, before finishing ahead of Woods, British duo Greg Owen and Anthony Wall, Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez and Keiichiro Fukabori of Japan.

Twice winner Woods, who romped to a five-stroke victory at St Andrews last year, holed a 20-foot eagle putt at the final hole to highlight a stirring recovery after he missed a two-and-a-half foot putt to bogey the first.

Ernie Els, the 2002 winner at Muirfield, American Jim Furyk and Spaniard Sergio Garcia were among a group of 13 bunched on 68 while Masters champion Phil Mickelson was a further stroke back, along with 13 others.

Woods, playing only his third tournament since the death of his father on May 3, found the left rough off the tee with a two-iron at the opening hole but birdied the fifth, ninth, 11th and 16th before signing off in style.

Northern Irishman McDowell could hardly keep the smile off his face after making the most of benign conditions at the north-west England seaside links.

Els, determined to shake off a loss of form following a knee injury last season, wasted a chance to birdie the par-five last after being bunkered off the tee.

However, the three-time major winner rattled up six birdies and two bogeys to make his best Open start since shooting a 66 at St Andrews in 2000.

American left-hander Mickelson, eager to banish memories of his final-hole meltdown in last month's US Open at Winged Foot, mixed four birdies with an eagle and three bogeys.

Englishman Owen, who led the 2001 Open at Royal Lytham after 35 holes, was one of the first to take advantage as he reeled off six birdies and a bogey.

First round scores:

66 – Graeme McDowell (Britain).

67 – Greg Owen (Britain), Anthony Wall (Britain), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Keiichiro Fukabori (Japan), Tiger Woods (US).

68 – Marcus Fraser (Australia), S.K. Ho (South Korea), Mikko Ilonen (Finland), Mark Hensby (Australia), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Mike Weir (Canada), Ernie Els (South Africa), Jim Furyk (US), Tom Lehman (US), Carl Pettersson (Sweden), Adam Scott (Australia), Ben Crane (US), Brett Rumford (Australia).

69 – Niclas Fasth (Sweden), Lee Westwood (Britain), Rod Pampling (Australia), Robert Allenby (Australia), Phil Mickelson (US), Darren Clarke (Britain), Bart Bryant (US), Sean O'Hair (US), Lee Slattery (Britain), Fred Funk (US), Rory Sabbatini (South Africa), Robert Rock (Britain), Brandt Jobe (US).

70 – John Senden (Australia), Bradley Dredge (Britain), Fred Couples (US), Scott Verplank (US), Vijay Singh (Fiji), Nick O'Hern (Australia), Andres Romero (Argentina), Robert Karlsson (Sweden), Michael Campbell (New Zealand), Chris DiMarco (US), Aaron Baddeley (Australia), Chad Campbell (US), Stephen Ames (Canada), David Duval (US), Retief Goosen (South Africa), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spain), Simon Khan (Britain).

71 – Steve Elkington (Australia), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), Mark Calcavecchia (US), Paul Broadhurst (Britain), Tom Pernice Jr (US), Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark), Adam Frayne (Britain), Thaworn Wiratchant (Thailand), Rich Beem (US), Mark O'Meara (US), Marius Thorp (Norway), Richard Green (Australia), Peter Lonard (Australia), Geoff Ogilvy (Australia), Paul McGinley (Ireland), Jeff Sluman (US), Markus Brier (Austria), Marco Ruiz (Paraguay).

72 – Jerry Kelly (US), Billy Andrade (US), K.J. Choi (South Korea), Paul Casey (Britain), Todd Hamilton (US), John Daly (US), Shaun Micheel (US), Michael Wright (Australia), Shiv Kapur (India), Vaughn Taylor (US), Thomas Aiken (South Africa), Andrew Marshall (Britain), John Bickerton (Britain), Lucas Glover (US), Henrik Stenson (Sweden), Julien Guerrier (France), Hideto Tanihara (Japan), Andrew Buckle (Australia), Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Tom Watson (US), Tim Clark (South Africa), Stewart Cink (US), Simon Wakefield (Britain), Bradley Hughes (Australia).

73 – Peter Hedblom (Sweden), Ben Curtis (US), Edoardo Molinari (Italy), Zach Johnson (US), Stephen Dodd (Britain), Kenny Perry (US), Colin Montgomerie (Britain), Arron Oberholser (US), Yasuharu Imano (Japan), Jim Payne (Britain), Adam Bland (Australia), Scott Drummond (Britain), Sandy Lyle (Britain), J.J. Henry (US), Jose Maria Olazabal (Spain), Hunter Mahan (US).

74 – Luke Donald (Britain), David Howell (Britain), Bernhard Langer (Germany), Stuart Appleby (Australia), Seve Ballesteros (Spain), Phillip Price (Britain), J.B. Holmes (US), Ben Bunny (Australia), Simon Dyson (Britain), Charl Schwartzel (South Africa), Jarrod Lyle (Australia), Ted Purdy (US), Nick Dougherty (Britain), Shingo Katayama (Japan), Brett Wetterich (US), Bo Van Pelt (US).

75 – Barry Lane (Britain), Padraig Harrington (Ireland), Ian Poulter (Britain), Toshinori Muto (Japan), Nick Ludwell (Britain), Jeff Maggert (US), Mathew Goggin (Australia), Jamie Donaldson (Britain), Davis Love III (US), Johan Edfors (Sweden), Bruce Vaughan (US), Ross Wellington (South Africa), Darren Parris (Britain).

76 – Kenneth Ferrie (Britain), Tim Herron (US), Paul Lawrie (Britain), Warren Abery (South Africa), Warren Bladon (Britain), Mark Pilkington (Britain), Richard Sterne (South Africa), David Smail (New Zealand), Wayne Perske (Australia).

77 – Nick Faldo (Britain).

78 – Tatsu Ichihara (Japan), Louis Oosthuizen (South Africa), Danny Denison (Britain), Gary Lockerbie (Britain).

79 – Brett Quigley (US).

81 – Carlos Rodiles (Spain).

82 – Unho Park (Australia), Gary Day (Britain), Jon Bevan (Britain).

83 – Sam Little (Britain).—Reuters