Tiger Watch: Woods shoots 4-over 76, sits 11 shots back of lead after Round 1

Tiger Woods has a steep climb ahead of him.

The three-time champion and two-time winner at St. Andrews labored through his opening nine at the Open Championship, requiring 40 shots, including 17 putts, but showed improvement with an even 36 on the back nine to finish with a 4-over 76, 11 shots behind the lead.

"It's the way it goes," Woods said frustratingly following his round, despite admitting he "hit it great" during his warmup.

Tiger, oozing frustration, had four bogeys and five pars on the front nine, and dropped another stroke at the 10th to land second from the bottom of the leaderboard.

After bogeying the par-4 10th hole, Woods looked to settle in, going bogey-free and dropping his day's only birdie at the par-5 14th to help him avoid his career-worst score at St. Andrews – a 6-over 78 he shot in 1995 as an amateur.

The 14-time major winner will need to bring his play up another level on Friday if he hopes to make the weekend with many players scoring low during the first round in Scotland.

A reminder for Woods that comebacks are possible at The Open sits one shot behind the lead in 1999 champion Paul Lawrie who finished Round 1 at 6-under. Lawrie came back from 10 shots behind on Sunday and beat Jean van de Velde – who triple-bogeyed his final hole – in a playoff for the only major of his career.

With two more days than Lawrie had to climb the leaderboard, Woods will need to limit his mistakes and start hitting birdies with high winds and rain on the forecast for Friday.

Tiger's Round