Woods let down by putter

Tiger Woods' putting let him down on the opening nine holes of the 131st Open Championship at Muirfield.

The favourite could only claim two birdies despite having a succession of chances and he also three putted the sixth.

He went out in 35 to lie three shots off the lead held by playing partners Justin Rose and Shigeki Maruyama.

The Grand Slam chasing American made a terrible start after complaining about noise made by photographers while he prepared for his opening shot.

Woods sliced the resulting drive wide into the rough but managed to claim a par after chipping to six foot and holing the putt.

He then missed medium-range putts at the second, third and fourth before claiming his first birdie at the par five fifth having reached the green in two shots.

But after leaving himself 20-foot from the pin at the sixth, Woods steamed his first putt two-foot past and missed the return to drop back to level par.

However, he reached the second par five in two, and after rolling his eagle putt to one foot from the pin, Woods tapped in to end the front nine in fine fashion.