Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Tiger Woods highlights Claret Jug credentials on day one at Carnoustie

Tiger Woods lines up a putt on the 18th green during the first round of the 147th Open.
Tiger Woods lines up a putt on the 18th green during the first round of the 147th Open.

Tiger Woods believes he proved during his opening round at Carnoustie that he is capable of contending for the Claret Jug this week.

The 42-year-old, playing in the event for the first time for three years, shot a level par 71 during the toughest conditions on day one of the 147th Open championship.

The galleries were jam-packed when Woods teed off and he didn’t disappoint. A sublime approach at the first set up a 10-foot birdie putt which was calmly converted.

Woods, playing with tape on his neck, picked up another birdie at the fourth before dropping three shots on the back nine as well as another gain at the 11th.

But this was a day when the positives outweighed the negatives for Woods and the former world number one will hope to signal his intentions by shooting a low round today to move closer to the top of the leaderboard, currently occupied by Kevin Kisner after his five-under 66.

Woods said: “I was watching the board and the guys weren’t doing much in the afternoon. I felt shooting under par would be good and I got off to a great start.

“It looked like I could do something, unfortunately it didn’t quite turn out that way.

“But, as part of the afternoon wave, I was one of the lower rounds.”
Playing partner Knox admitted to being starstruck while playing with Woods for the first time and said the 14-time major winner did little to ease his nerves.

He said: “He wants to beat me. I’m a threat to him. I could make him not win this tournament.

“I didn’t expect him to help me through or whatever. He’s trying to bury me by 20 shots as I’m doing with him.

“I wanted to chat with him a little bit. I thought ‘I’m out here with Tiger for five hours, might as well talk to him’.

“It’s kind of a blur, to be honest. I was chatting away with Tiger like it was normal but I don’t even remember what I was saying.”

Woods appeared surprised when he heard of Knox’s struggles.

He said: “I don’t know how nervous he can be. He just won last week, right?

“He’s playing well. We’re in a major championship so obviously, we’re all nervous.

“We all have to battle those nerves and this golf course. It’s not easy.

“I’ve got my own business to take care of.

“I’m grinding, trying to figure out how to play this golf course. I’m trying to shoot the lowest round I possibly can and he’s trying to do the same thing.”