The Open: Latest from day two

Just as Garcia putted out on the 18th to complete a level par 71 for a six under halfway total, a few hundred yards away Woods was hitting his opening tee shot out of bounds.

Using an iron for position, the defending champion hit a wild hook into the Barry Burn left of the fairway and had to play three off the tee.

It was reminiscent of his opening tee shot into a lake in the Ryder Cup at the K Club last year, and also not the first time he had been forced to reload on the first hole in the Open.

Four years ago at Sandwich the 31-year-old lost a ball in heavy rough and ran up a triple bogey seven. He went on to finish just two shots behind shock winner Ben Curtis.

This time he escaped with 'just' a double bogey six and repaired some of the damage instantly with a birdie on the second, but further bogeys at the fifth and eighth left the defending champion one over at the turn, seven off the lead.

Ireland's Paul McGinley, second overnight after a 67, also got off to a bad start with three dropped shots in three holes, but a birdie on the fourth stopped the rot and left him two under par.

Garcia's nearest challenger was now Korea's KJ Choi, winner of two of his last three events, who was five under with three to play.

"I was hoping for a little better than I did but it's not a bad round," said Garcia, whose opening 65 was an amazing 24 shots better than his opening round here in 1999. "I'm not going to lie, I was a little bit nervous at the beginning."

Those nerves showed with what he described as a "solid shank" on his second shot to the opening hole, but the 27-year-old conjured up a brilliant recovery from thick rough to save par.

"It's happened before, in the final round at Sun City in 2003. I was out in the last group with Retief Goosen and on the first hole I got the nine iron out, same club, and shanked it way right of the green.

"That time I made bogey but managed to win the tournament, so it's not a bad thing."

Fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez was safely in the clubhouse after a 70 which owed much to playing the daunting closing stretch in two under par with birdies on the 14th and 16th.

Former US Open champion Jim Furyk was two under after a second straight 70 while England's Lee Westwood was pleased to be one under after a 70.

For the second day running Westwood carded an eagle on the back nine, although his 10ft putt on the 14th was less spectacular than holing a five iron from 185 yards on the 15th as he did yesterday.

"Anything under par, level or even one over par is in contention," said Westwood, who lists Carnoustie as his favourite links course. "With the weather and the challenges on the last few holes, almost anyone who makes the cut comes into contention.

"I played very well on the way in. There are some long holes out there and there's no break from the 12th in. We were not going for the shallow end of the golf club very much!"

Northern Ireland amateur Rory McIlroy's hopes of emulating Justin Rose's Open heroics nosedived with a second round of 76.

McIlroy almost stole the show from Garcia with an opening three-under 68, the only player in the 156-strong field not to card a single bogey.

The 18-year-old from Holywood was hailed as "the real deal" by Padraig Harrington after outscoring his hero and defending champion Woods by a shot, evoking memories of Rose's fourth place at Birkdale in 1998 as a 17-year-old amateur.

Rose shot a 66 in the second round on that occasion - equalling the lowest ever round in the Open by an amateur - but McIlroy struggled to a 76 and two over par halfway total of 144.

"It would be fantastic just to play at the weekend," said McIlroy, who remains favourite for the silver medal awarded to the leading amateur who plays all 72 holes.

Luke Donald's chances also appear over after he crashed to a 76 which included an outward half of 40, an eight and three sixes, to lie four over.

A trio of leading names also made a mess of the 499-yard 18th, Padraig Harrington, Vijay Singh and Phil Mickelson all taking double bogeys.

Harrington's meant a 73 for a level par total of 142, Singh a 71 for one over and Mickelson a 77 for six over which meant a long wait to see if he would make the cut.