Tiger Woods has admitted that it was pleasing to see himself making progress on the course after a promising start to the Open Championship on Thursday.

The former world number one started the day with two bogeys before carding a 69, which left him three shots behind leader Rory McIlroy at Royal Liverpool, and he believes that the positives were obvious in just his third competitive round of golf since undergoing surgery on his back in March.

"I'm getting stronger, I'm getting faster, I'm getting more explosive," Woods told reporters. "The ball is starting to travel again, and those are all positive things.

"It felt good to be back out there competing again. It wasn't exactly the best start but I still had four par-fives to play. I still had a couple of the short holes. I'm not going to be the only guy in a 72-hole event to make two bogeys. I just got mine out of the way early."

Woods is looking to win his first Major tournament since the 2008 US Open.