HOYLAKE, England (CP-AP) _ Mike Weir rallied from a rocky start to put himself in a good position at the British Open.

Despite two early bogeys, the left-hander from Bright's Grove, Ont., bounced back Thursday to post six birdies and join Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els and a host of others at 4-under 68 at Royal Liverpool, one shot back of clubhouse leader Greg Owen of England.

``A good round,'' Weir told TNT television. ``I was not quite in my game early on and made a couple of nice putts to keep it going.''

Tiger Woods, who missed the cut at the U.S. Open a month ago, also had a hot and cold day but managed to put himself into contention after opening with a 5-under 67, one shot behind surprise leader Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland.

Phil Mickelson bounced back from the debacle at Winged Foot to shoot a solid 69 that could have been even better. One shot better than Lefty was a large pack that included Weir, 2002 champion Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman and Sergio Garcia.

Stephen Ames of Calgary finished the day four strokes back at 70.

Mickelson was 4-under at the turn but struggled a bit down the stretch, failing to take advantage of the last two par 5s. Still, it was an encouraging start after the U.S. Open, where he made double bogey on the final hole when a par would have been good enough for his third straight major title.

``I've got to execute better,'' Mickelson said. ``The course is playing about as nice as it could.''

The most awaited group of the day teed off in the afternoon with Woods and three-time winner Nick Faldo, whose sour relationship warmed up a bit when they shook hands on the practice range Wednesday.

Their highly anticipated duel wasn't much of one. Faldo shot 77 and will need a very low round Friday just to make it to the weekend.

Since turning pro, Woods had never missed a cut in a major until he shot back-to-back 76s at Winged Foot. He got off to another ominous start, yanking his opening shot into the rough _ despite using an iron for better control and mild conditions rarely seen on a seaside links _ and missed a 2{-footer to save par.

``Just a terrible putt,'' he said.

Overnight rains softened the brownish, rock-hard course, and the breeze off the Irish Sea didn't pick up until late in the afternoon. Even then, it hardly felt like a British Open.

For Woods, there were more ugly shots to come despite the relatively benign weather. His ball plugged in the sand next to the green at No. 10, and his first attempt to get out caught the sodden lip and ricocheted back into the deep bunker. But he knocked his second attempt next to the hole and saved par.

At the 11th, Woods drove behind a signpost on the right side of the fairway. The marshals attempted to yank it out of the dirt, but it wouldn't come lose. So Woods simply hit around it and put the ball to 10 feet, sinking the birdie putt.

He finally found the fairway at No. 16 _ only it was the adjacent one at 17. He still managed to reach the edge of the green (the 17th, that is) and made a two-putt birdie.

McDowell's six-birdie, no-bogey round set a course record for the Open at Royal Liverpool. Of course, this is the first time since 1967 that the oldest of the four majors has been held near the hometown of the Beatles.

Nevertheless, it was a stunning performance by a golfer who said he got a swing tip from a fan in a local pub the night before _ and found that it actually worked.

``If you're watching,'' McDowell quipped for TV cameras, ``I'll see you on the range at 7 o'clock in the morning.''

Owen is a PGA Tour regular best known for blowing a final-round lead at Bay Hill this year. He three-putted from three feet on the next-to-last hole to give away a seemingly certain win.

``It still hurts now even thinking about it,'' he said.

Wall is playing only his second Open, having tied for 46th at Royal St. George's in 2003, and his lone European Tour victory came six years ago.

But the 31-year-old Londoner has been playing well this season with a few runner-up finishes on the European Tour. Afterward, he munched on a baguette and insisted he wasn't all that surprised to be near the top of the leaderboard.

``I don't see why not,'' he said. ``I've been playing well. You need some luck. That's the main thing. And here I am.''