EAST LOTHIAN, Scotland, July 18 (UPI) -- Tiger Woods was the worst player in his group in the first round of the British Open Thursday, but he still put himself in position for another possible major title.
Continuing his quest for an unprecedented Grand Slam, Woods opened with a 1-under-par 70 that kept him close to the lead.
"Anything under par is going to be a good score," Woods said.
He played with Justin Rose of England and Japan's Shigeki Maruyama, who carded 3-under 68s.
Woods began the day with a distraction as a frisky photographer forced him to back off his opening tee shot. After pushing an iron into the right rough, hes was bothered by the same cameraman and had him removed.
"It's fine taking a picture, it's their job," said Woods, who is among the most photographed athletes in the world. "But these guys are professionals, they know when to do it."
Woods was sharp as morning clouds covered the east coast of cotland, but he was unlucky with the putter and failed to break 70 for the fourth time in his last five rounds at golf's oldest tournament.
The 2000 champion at St. Andrews, Woods lipped out four putts, hree of which would have been birdies. He ended the day with three birdies and two bogeys, finishing with seven consecutive pars.
"Well, I think overall I'm very pleased by the way I played today," he said. "It was very crisp, very clean, and I hit a lot of beautiful putts that just grazed the edge and lipped out.
"You can only shoot yourself out of the tournament the first day, and I certainly didn't do that.Got myself where I needed to be, especially if the weather is the way it's supposed to be the next two days."
Heavy rain is in the forecast for Friday, followed by strong winds Saturday.
