Ayrshire, Scotland (My Sportsbook) - Miguel Angel Jimenez birdied his final two holes Thursday to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the 138th British Open Championship at Turnberry.

Jimenez carded a bogey-free, six-under 64 to finish one ahead of five-time British Open champion Tom Watson, 2003 Open champion Ben Curtis and Kenichi Kuboya. It was the first time Jimenez led after any round in a major in his career.

"I hit them very well from tee-to-green," Jimenez explained. "And it was a nice day with the putter. That's what you need to make a score, no?"

The 45-year-old Jimenez matched the lowest first-round score in British Open history. Five other players had carded 64s in the opening round, most recently Steve Pate and Raymond Floyd did so in 1992 at Muirfield.

The 59-year-old Watson was the early story after he shot a five-under 65 to grab the lead for several hours. Watson won the 1977 "Duel in the Sun" against Jack Nicklaus at Turnberry and also claimed the Senior British Open on the course in 2003.

Watson's 65 was his lowest ever first-round score in a British Open. The last time he shot 65 at the British Open was in the second round of the 1994 Open Championship, also held at Turnberry, where he shared 11th place.

"A lot of it has to do with the weather. You see the scores today. I wouldn't be surprised if someone shot better than 65 today," admitted Watson.

In calm winds and good scoring conditions, Watson's prediction came true.

Jimenez carded four birdies on the front nine, including three in a four-hole span from the sixth. The Spaniard parred the first seven holes on the back nine before making birdie on 17 to join Watson and Curtis atop the leaderboard.

At the par-five 18th, Jimenez poured in a 40-footer for birdie and the first- round lead.

Jimenez knew there was a good score out there before he even reached the course on Thursday.

"You look at the sea, it looked like a pond, so nice, so calm. You can't ask for a better day to play golf," Jimenez stated. "No wind, no nothing, and it took care of me."

Steve Stricker, who won the John Deere Classic last week, posted a four-under 66 and shared fifth place with John Senden, Camilo Villegas, Matthew Goggin and Stewart Cink.

Mark Calcavecchia, the 1989 champion, carded a three-under 67 in the first group out and was joined in 10th place by, among others, three-time major champion Vijay Singh and 1998 British Open winner Mark O'Meara.

Three-time champion Tiger Woods did not have a great day, posting a one-over 71, which left him tied for 68th.

After a birdie on the second, he gave that shot back as he bogeyed No. 3. Woods got back to red figures with a birdie on the seventh.

Woods tripped to another bogey on 10, then rebounded with a birdie on 11. After three straight pars, Woods came up short on the 15th and was unable to get up and down for par.

At the 16th, Woods' approach bounced off the right edge of the green and into a burn. After taking his drop, Woods pitched to four feet and rolled that in for bogey. He two-putted for par from over 50 feet on 17, then missed a 13- foot birdie effort at the last.

"The misses I had were the same shots I was hitting on the range, so I need to go work on that and get it squared away," stated Woods.

Two-time defending champion Padraig Harrington collected two birdies and a bogey in a round of one-under 69. He is tied for 37th with, among others, Ernie Els and Masters champion Angel Cabrera.

Watson got off to a fast start with birdies on one and three. He cruised to six consecutive pars from the third to turn in minus-two.

Around the turn, Watson rolled in another birdie try on the par-four 10th. He moved to four-under with a birdie on the par-four 12th.

Watson, whose best recent finish in the Open Championship was a tie for 18th in 2003 at Royal St. George's, connected on his final birdie at the 17th. That moved him to minus-five and Watson ended there with a two-putt par at the last.

"The body is a little bit old, but the enthusiasm out there today was very similar," Watson said. "It was a wonderful day to play. There was very little wind and the course is defenseless. It was a good beginning round for me."

Watson's best previous first-round score in the Open Championship was 67. He did that twice, first in 1983 at Royal Birkdale, where he won, and then again in 1995 at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Watson won his five British Open championships at Carnoustie, Turnberry, Muirfield, Royal Troon and Royal Birkdale. On the Champions Tour, his victories were at Turnberry, Royal Aberdeen and Muirfield.

Curtis has won just twice since claiming the Open in 2003 and both of those titles came in 2006 on the PGA Tour.

The 32-year-old Curtis has played well of late with three top-10 finishes in his last five starts. His worst finish in that span was at the U.S. Open, where he finished 57th.

Curtis stumbled to a bogey on the fourth, but came right back with a birdie on No. 5. At the par-five seventh, Curtis made eagle to jump to minus-two. He gave one stroke back with a bogey on the 10th. Curtis dropped in birdie efforts on 13 and 14 to move minus-three.

Curtis used a late rally to match Watson at minus-five.

He drained a long birdie putt on the 16th to get within one of Watson. His second to the par-five 17th finished just short of the green. Curtis, standing some 85 feet from the hole, rolled his eagle attempt to tap-in range.

After kicking in that birdie, Curtis made par at the last to finish alongside Watson.

Kuboya had two bogeys and two birdies on the front nine. After four straight pars around the turn, he birdied the 13th before a bogey on 14 dropped him back to even-par.

The 37-year-old Kuboya had a stellar finish to grab a share of second place. He dropped in back-to-back birdies from the 15th, then eagled the par-five 17 to jump to minus-four. He birdied the last to share second with Watson and Curtis.

Calcavecchia, Singh and O'Meara were joined at three-under 67 by Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Mike Weir, Boo Weekley, Steve Marino, Branden Grace, Boo Weekley, James Kingston and Richard Sterne.

Among the group of players tied at two-under 68 were Lee Westwood and Ryo Ishikawa, who both played alongside Woods on Thursday.

U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover carded three birdies and three double-bogeys in a round of two-over 72.