Ben Curtis birdied four of the last six holes to join Tom Watson at the top of Open leaderboard at Turnberry.

The 2003 champion shot a five under par round of 65 to take a share of the lead with the 59-year-old Amercian who won the famous "Duel in the Sun" with Jack Nicklaus in 1977.

Watson, five times the Open champion, produced a string of birdies over the opening 17 holes to reach five under par before holing a ten-foot par putt on the final hole to remain a shot clear of the chasing pack. "I feel that I'm playing well enough to win," he said. "I feel inspired playing here."

Watson returned to the clubhouse with the early lead, one shot ahead of the equally unexpected John Senden, an Australian who only made it into the Open field on Tuesday when India's Jeev Milkha Singh withdrew due to injury.

Times Archive 1977 Duel in the sun

Tom Watson beats Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry in thrilling climax to the Open

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"I've got to be happy," Senden said. "I drove the ball well, putted solid, kept the momentum going and had a strong finish. I need to regroup for tomorrow."

Steve Stricker, of the United States, who had six birdies and two bogeys in his 66, Camilo Villegas and Stewart Cink were also a shot back from Watson at four under par.

Tiger Woods struggled to one-over par round of 71 in his opening round. Woods hit one wayward shot after another to finish six shots behind Watson. Woods, who is going for his 15th major championship, continually threw away his clubs in anger, as he struggled to get to grips with his game.

"I certainly made a few mistakes out there," Woods said. "Realistically I should have shot about one under or two under. I hit a couple of shots to the right and three-ripped a hole from about 15 feet and I didn't take advantage of 17 [a par five]. Hopefully tomorrow I can play better, clean it up and hit it. Put myself in the right direction."

Woods's score was especially disappointing given the perfect scoring conditions, which his playing partners, Ryo Ishikawa, the 17-year-old Japanese prodigy, and Lee Westwood made the most of, shooting two under par rounds of 68.

"It's a good start," Westwood said. "I kept concentration pretty well, there's a lot of activity out there in our group, and my confidence is good. That's why I'm marginally disappointed with 68. I had a dream start, so to walk off with 68 is a bit disappointing. Still, it's in there."

Westwood was joined on two under by Anthony Wall and a resurgent David Howell as well as Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell.

Howell, who has been plagued by back problems, has made the cut in only five of his 15 events this season and his highest finish is joint 37th, but he rediscovered the form which saw him finish seventh at Royal Birkdale 12 months ago. He went out in a four-under 31 only to double-bogey the short 15th and drop a further stroke at the 17th, salvaging some pride with a birdie at the last.

"That was probably my best round since the final round [at Birkdale] last year," he said.

Sandy Lyle, embroiled in controversy earlier this week after a "cheating" row with Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, made a terrible start to his round and was five over par after five holes. While Anthony Kim, the American Ryder Cup star, took nine on the par-four second before receiving treatment for an apparent neck injury.

Former Open winners Mark O'Meara and Mark Calcavecchia both carded three-under 67s. Calcavecchia, who will join the seniors tour next year, won his only major at nearby Troon in 1989 and once again he seemed inspired by the the sight of an Ayrshire links. Vijay Singh was alongside the two veteran Americans on three under par.

"I hate to say it was easy, Turnberry is a tough course, but if you are going to shoot a good score out there, today was the day to do it," Calcavecchia said. "The weather was perfect."

There was to be no repeat of last year's heroics from Austalian veteran Greg Norman who came in with a 77 that leaves him with a mountain to climb just to make the cut.