ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – From behind the seventh green at St. Andrews, all anyone could see was Tiger Woods’s head bobbing up and down from the deep bottom of Shell bunker.

This was foreign soil for Woods, who famously stayed out of the sand all four rounds when he won the British Open five years ago. He leaped twice to find his way out. Then came a puff of sand, followed by his ball skirting up to the green and stopping four feet from the hole.

By the end of his round yesterday, Woods was in a familiar spot at St. Andrews. He made seven birdies in a nine hole stretch, then ventured twice more into bunkers and settled for a 6-under 66 that gave him a one-shot lead over Mark Hensby in the first round of the British Open.

“I still feel very comfortable out there,” Woods said after his best start in a major championship since he opened with a 66 in the 2000 PGA Championship. “Even though I had it going, finishing at six [under] is a great start to the tournament.”

Jack Nicklaus could hardly say the same. Playing his 164th and final major championship at the home of golf, Nicklaus stirred his legion of fans ever so briefly with a 7-iron that just cleared the Swilcan Burn for a 4-foot birdie on the opening hole, and a nifty chip over Shell bunker into five feet for a birdie at the seventh.

Three-putt bogeys on three straight holes, however, sent him to a 75 and put him in a precarious position for making the cut, his goal.

“Obviously, I’m going to have to play well tomorrow,” he said. “I doubt if par will make the cut. We’ll just have to see.”

The Old Course was in a far more favorable mood, with only light breezes blowing across the links toward St. Andrews Bay. Provided players avoided the bunkers, they could score.

Hensby had a chance to join Woods atop the leaderboard until a 12-foot birdie on the 16th and another 12-footer on the final hole just missed, giving him a 67. The 10 players at 68 included Fred Couples, who birdied his last two holes; Luke Donald of England, who thrived while playing with Nicklaus and Tom Watson; and Jose Maria Olazabal, who somehow made it around St. Andrews without a bogey.

Woods finished off his round with a 3-wood just left of the 18th green, then a 70-foot putt that dipped in and out of the hollow called “Valley of Sin” and stopped four feet away for birdie.

Colin Montgomerie overcame an opening tee shot into the Swilcan Burn for a 71 and was quite pleased until he saw how far behind he already trailed the world’s no. 1 player.

“It’s ominous who’s on top of the board. Ominous,” Montgomerie said. “If there’s a course built for him, it’s this one. He won by eight shots last time here, and who says he won’t do the same again?”

Hensby also is becoming a regular fixture at the majors. He tied for fifth in the Masters and tied for third at the U.S. Open, joining Woods and Vijay Singh as the only players with top-10 performances in both majors this year. Yet even Hensby issued a warning about the possibility of Woods holding the claret jug.

“People are scared to say it, but it’s true,” Hensby said. “If he’s playing well, we’re all playing for second.”

Woods, however, is no longer the sure thing. He had a two-shot lead with two holes to play in the Masters and had to go extra holes with Chris DiMarco. And just when he was making a charge at Pinehurst no. 2 last month in the U.S. Open, two straight bogeys at critical moments left him two shots behind Michael Campbell.

Still, Woods’s power is still a big advantage at St. Andrews. He had nothing more than a wedge into six holes, and twice was putting from just off a par 4.

Vijay Singh, meanwhile, had to play a shot left-handed away from the lip of a bunker on the 16th hole and was fortunate to walk off with bogey. He still managed a 69, joining a large group that included Campbell.

Phil Mickelson got lost in the rough on his way to a triple bogey on the 15th and shot 74. Ernie Els, who thrives on the Old Course, couldn’t hole any putts and made three straight bogeys on the back nine, also shooting 74.