Tiger Woods birdied all the par 5s and picked up another stroke out of the rough, moving into contention Friday at the British Open but still needing plenty of work to catch Colin Montgomerie.
The British galleries reserved the biggest cheers for Montgomerie, applauding and yelling just at the sight of him walking onto the greens.
Despite a rugged start, taking bogey from among the trees on No. 2, the 38-year-old Scot didn't disappoint. Two birdies on the back nine kept his lead at three strokes and, at 8-under par, Montgomerie was four ahead of Woods as he played the brutal closing stretch.
Joe Ogilvie, an American playing only his second major, had the lead at 7 under before bogeys on two of his last four holes. He had a 68 and finished at 5-under 137, along with Greg Owen of England (68) and Jesper Parnevik (68).
All took advantage of a day to score — mostly sunny, unusually warm and barely a trace of wind. Montgomerie and Woods had to cope with sprinkles as clouds moved in late in the afternoon.
Eduardo Romero of Argentina had a 68 and was in the group at 138, while Brad Faxon (71) was another stroke back.
Davis Love III started the British Open with three straight bogeys and opened with a 73. He responded Friday with a 67, despite a bogey on the 17th hole, and joined Nick Price and Vijay Singh in the group at 140.
Woods struggled with his putter on the opening holes before two-putting the par-5 sixth for birdie. He hit his second shot into a greenside bunker on the next hole, then got up-and-down for a second birdie-4. He also birdied the par-5 11th from a bunker.
Woods had to settle for pars on those holes in his opening round of 71.
On the par-4 14th, Woods drove into the right rough. But from a better-than-expected lie, he put his approach on the front of the green and holed a 20-foot putt for birdie.
The sun came out and the wind died down Friday, allowing early second-round starters to post a barrage of birdies.
With no wind, the links course of Royal Lytham & St. Annes was left without one of its best defenses. That allowed players to have some full shots at pins and avoid many of the 196 bunkers littering the course.
Still, trouble abounded, as Phil Mickelson found out just when he was making a move on the leaderboard. Mickelson hit a wild drive into waist-high rough on the 14th hole, hit his second into a fairway bunker and capped the hole with a 3-putt for a double bogey.
Mickelson finished with a 1-over 72 and was even par for the tournament. Davis Love III had a 67 and was 2 under.
Parnevik set the early pace with his 68 that included a bogey on the 17th from a bunker.
"I'm probably playing better than I have been in a very long time," Parnevik said.
Price was one player not happy to see the nice weather just off the Irish Sea. After beginning the day eight shots behind Montgomerie, he may need the wind to blow to get back in the tournament.
"If it stays like this I'll probably have to shoot two 65s to have a chance," Price said.
While Royal Lytham was playing easier than imagined on Friday, it wasn't easy enough for some.
John Daly kept hitting drives into the deep rough, shooting a 40 on the front nine and finishing with a 76 that had him hurrying for a plane back home. Five-time winner Tom Watson was 6-over for the day.
Tom Lehman won at Lytham in 1996, but this time he won't be around to see the finish. He took double bogey on the final hole for a 72, and at 5-over 147 was likely to miss the cut.
A day earlier, Montgomerie watched, putter in hand on the 14th green, as Fred Couples dealt with the sand deep inside a greenside bunker.
Couples swiped at his half-buried ball left-handed, then hit it backward. A third shot tried to climb the sodded wall, only to cruelly fall back in the sand.
By the time he finally got it out, a good round had gone bad. It was drama so riveting that an engrossed Montgomerie promptly three-putted himself, almost as if in sympathy.
"I think I lost a bit of concentration watching him," Montgomerie said.
It was the only lapse of the day for Montgomerie, which may be surprising considering his checkered past in the British Open.
What was even more surprising was how the links of Royal Lytham proved so accommodating in its first major test in five years.
Sure, Couples took four to get out of a trap. And Jim Furyk spent 10 strokes trying to get through the rough and sand on the 11th hole.
But with the weather suddenly calm, so was Royal Lytham. The opening round was notable for how well it was played, not for how many disasters occurred.
On Thursday, there was spectacular play that included Jeff Maggert's 6-iron from 200 yards for a rare double eagle on the par-5 sixth. After three bogeys in a row, Mickelson had back-to-back eagles on the front nine, and a new professional from Finland named Mikko Ilonen managed a 69.
That was better than Woods, whose 71 might have been a lot worse on another day in another wind.
"Sometimes you need to gut it out and get around," Woods said. "And I was able to just hang in there and persevere."