Woods played solid, if unspectacular, golf

The world number one bogeyed the first but four birdies and an eagle at the last meant he finished five under par and just one shot off the lead.

Masters and USPGA champion Phil Mickelson fired four birdies and an eagle in his three-under-par 69.

America's Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman had a 68 while 2003 US Open winner Jim Furyk carded the same score.

Highlights: The Open first round

Interview: Tiger Woods

Fred Couples returned a 70 while John Daly, Open champion at St Andrews in 1995, went round in level-par 72.

As predicted, there was a marked absence of small talk between Woods and playing partner Nick Faldo during their round.

Woods sprayed his first drive into the wispy rough and needed two swings to escape a deep pot bunker at the 10th.

He also found himself stuck behind a wooden signpost at the 11th and looked to be struggling with his game for much of the day.

But he managed to reach the green of the 565-yard 18th with a couple of iron shots and curled in a 25-foot putt to put himself bang in contention.

If it had not rained it would have been unbelievable for four days Former Masters champion Fred Couples

"It wasn't easy, the wind kept changing," said Woods who was playing only his seventh competitive round since early May when his father died from cancer.

"But I knew I had to stay patient, hang in there, not give shots away and keep the round going. Shooting 67 certainly makes you feel good.

"We said at the start of the day that it would not surprise us if the lead was at seven or eight under. It's six, so I'm right in the ball game at five."

Mickelson was four under at the turn but faded somewhat down the stretch, failing to take advantage of the last two par fives.

However, it was an encouraging start after the US Open, where he made double bogey on the final hole when a par would have been good enough to win his third straight major.

Mickelson, 36, said: "I got off to a good start and was playing well but I hit some poor shots coming in and it cost me a few strokes.

"It seems later in the afternoon the wind calms down a bit. The morning round is always a lottery.

"You never know if it is going to get windy or rainy or what. I am glad to get by with three under."

Former Masters champion Couples, meanwhile, said the 135th Open had been rescued by the rain that fell on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

"If it had not rained it would have been unbelievable for four days," the 46-year-old said. "It would have been way too hard.

"When you are flying balls on the front of the greens and they are going all the way through and down the embankments over the back, that to me is not true links golf."

The recent hot spell had left the course fast-running and bone-hard before the rain took the edge off for the first round.

Sean O'Hair, 24, fired five birdies and an eagle in his round of 69 but Ben Curtis, winner at Royal St George's in 2003, could only manage a one-over-par 73.

Veteran Fred Funk, 50, provided proof that moderate hitters can compete at Royal Liverpool with a 69, as did Scott Verplank, who finished one shot back.