A disastrous final two holes left Pádraig Harrington eight shots off Tiger Woods’s lead after the first round of the Quail Hollow Championship. The Dubliner was four-under-par through 16 but triple-bogeyed the penultimate hole before dropping two more on the last to fall off the pace.

Prior to that, his only bogey had come on the sixth and it was swallowed up by five birdies in the first 10. However, it all went wrong for the three-time Major winner when he struck his tee shot into the water at 17.

The bar was set high earlier in the day by Woods whose -free seven-under-par 65 came thanks to some exquisite putting and proved the perfect antidote to the a relatively disappointing Masters.

The world number one was relatively stagnant before the turn but stormed home with six birdies on his inward half to lead Steve Marino and Phil Mickelson by two.

Fellow Americans Jeff Maggert, Hunter Mahan and Lucas Glover, as well as South African Retief Goosen, are three adrift.

"I hit a couple of loose shots here and there but I putted really well," said Woods, who finished in style with lengthy birdies at his final three holes.

"I had a couple of key saves that kept the round going (and) it's always nice when you birdie the last three. I putted the same as at Augusta but this time they went in instead of lipping out."

Woods finished equal sixth at the Masters after bogeying the final two holes.

He won at Quail Hollow in 2007 before missing the event last year due to a knee injury.