Torment for Tiger Woods in woeful British Open first round

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As birdies flowed on the first day of the British Open, Tiger Woods found himself way off the pace at St. Andrews.

A winner on the Old Course in 2000 and 2005, Woods expressed optimism ahead of the year's third major — buoyed by an encouraging showing at the PGA Tour's recent Greenbrier Classic.

However, the former world No. 1 got off to a woeful start in benign conditions and ended his round some 11 shots behind early leader Dustin Johnson at 4-over 76. Woods' score was among the worst from the Open's early starters.

"I made so many mistakes today," Woods said.

He set the tone for a dismal showing by finding the stream in front of the first green with his second shot. That led to a bogey.

He dropped another shot at No. 2 after coming up well short with his approach.

"I caught a couple of balls fat starting out. … I drove the ball into two divots," Woods said. "It was just one of those mixed bags."

Bogeys at five and six left Woods 4-over, as the 14-time major winner continued to struggle on a course offering plenty of birdie opportunities.

His outward nine 40 was the day's worst total at that stage, and it wasn't until the 14th that he finally picked up his first shot of the day with a birdie 3.

That was Tiger Woods' ball. Watch his bad start at #TheOpen in 1min34s clip: http://t.co/cPr8PT3XYf pic.twitter.com/xKUHCG91f5

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 16, 2015

By the time Woods holed out for par on the 18th, only two players were below him on the leaderboard.

"I just have to fight it out," Woods said. "I've still got 54 holes to go."

That might be optimistic, given where he stands after Day 1.