McGinley in front early at Carnoustie

Carnoustie, Scotland (Sports Network) - Ireland's Paul McGinley shot a four- under-par 67 on Thursday to grab the clubhouse lead during the first round of the British Open Championship at Carnoustie.
Former U.S. Open champion Michael Campbell birdied the 17th hole to post a three-under 68. Markus Brier, Lucas Glover, an alternate who got in when Shingo Katayama withdrew earlier in the week, and 1995 champion John Daly are three-under par on the course.
Tiger Woods, the two-time defending champion, managed a two-under-par 69 and is two behind McGinley in his quest to become the first player to win three consecutive claret jugs since Peter Thomson did it from 1954-56.
Woods fell to one-under par after back-to-back bogeys at 12 and 13. He got back to two-under par in the most unlikely fashion. Woods drained a very long birdie putt from just in front of the green at 16, then parred the last two.
"The back nine's really tough" said Woods."You've just got to suck it up and try and hit some good shots. To play the last three holes one-under par, I'll take that any day."
Woods was joined in the clubhouse at minus-two by two-time PGA Tour winner this year, K.J. Choi and Stewart Cink.
The players who teed off in the morning were greeted by fairly heavy rainfall, steady wind and temperatures that did not get higher than 50 degrees. Eventually the rain stopped and the wind died down, and it roughly coincided with when McGinley teed off.
He flew out of the gate on Thursday with back-to-back birdies at one and two. McGinley added birdies and four and seven and found himself in the lead at four-under par.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen briefly got to that number, but fell down the leaderboard. McGinley did not thanks to some steady par saves. At the ninth, he sank a five-footer for par, but one hole later ran home a 25-foot save to stay in the lead at minus-four.
At the par-three 13th, McGinley rolled in a five-foot birdie putt to reach five-under. He padded the lead with a birdie at 14, but things fell apart right away for the Irishman.
McGinley did not reach the putting surface with his second at 15. He missed a five-foot par save, then hit a poor tee shot at the long, par-three 16th. McGinley came up short of the green and could only manage to get his second to 40 feet. He missed that putt, but made a tricky six-footer to save bogey.
His lead down to one, McGinley saved par at the last from four feet to keep his spot atop the leaderboard.
"I stepped up my game today," said McGinley, a three-time European Ryder Cup member. "I played really well. I'm obviously very pleased."
This was somewhat unexpected for McGinley, who has had a mediocre year so far on the European Tour. He has made 10 cuts in 15 starts, but has not finished higher than a tie for 16th.
"My form hasn't been good," acknowledged McGinley. "I've been making cuts but haven't been performing at the high end of the field."
Goosen, Thomas Bjorn, Rod Pampling, Gregory Bourdy, Carl Pettersson, J.J. Henry and 2002 PGA Champion Rich Beem are in the clubhouse at one-under-par 70.
Paul Lawrie, who won this title in 1999, the last time Carnoustie hosted the British Open Championship, shot a two-over-par 73. Colin Montgomerie and Adam Scott also posted that number on Thursday.