Stenson blames cold putter for slow start

By Patrick Johnston

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Swedish world number eight Henrik Stenson rued a poor putting display after carding a one-over-par 71 to lie six strokes off the pace in the British Open first round on Thursday.

On a day when many players took advantage of calm conditions at Turnberry's Ailsa course to post sub-par scores, the six-times European Tour winner struggled on the greens.

"I wasn't putting good early on in the round," Stenson told Reuters after totalling 34 putts.

"(I) made a couple of mistakes which turned into bogeys and I couldn't take advantage of the good shots I hit which set up good birdie chances."

After opening with four pars, the Ryder Cup player dropped shots at the par-four fifth and par-three sixth.

Another bogey followed at the par-four 12th before he finished with a flourish, posting back-to-back birdies on 16 and 17.

"I was three-over after 15 and, with decent putting, I should have been (level) par at least" the tall Swede said.

"We are used to links greens (never) being that quick but I just found it a little bit difficult with pace on a few occasions."