Ian Poulter takes advantage of the benign conditions early on and sinks five birdies in 14 holes to move to one under
But his charge comes to an abrupt halt with a double on 15 and bogeys on 16 and 17 leave him three over after a 70
Fellow Englishman Luke Donald picks up three shots in eight holes but bogeys the last four to drop back to six over
Justin Rose rattles in six birdies in a four under par 67 to put himself in contention at one under for the Championship
Tiger Woods drops a shot on two, but responds with birdies on four and five and seven to move to one under par
Spectator Jennifer Wilson gets a little too close to the action when her head intercepts an errant shot from Woods on six
Zach Johnson meanwhile cards the first bogey-free round of the day with a three under par 68 to leave him one over
Sweden's Pelle Edberg trumps Johnson with a birdie at the last to record an error-free 67 and a one-under par total
America's Chris DiMarco is also in fine form draining seven birdies on his way to a 66 and three under par overall
And Steve Stricker is off to a great start - five birdies on the front nine catapults him into second on four under
The sole amateur left in the tournament, Rory McIlroy, shoots a respectable 73 to leave himself four over
Overnight leader Sergio Garcia rolls in a birdie at the first and extends his advantage with two more on eight and 11
Woods scraps his way round the inward nine, but finishes with four pars for a 69 and is still in touch at one under
Miguel Angel Jimenez puts in a steady front nine with eight pars and a birdie but a double bogey on 14 halts his progress
Stricker bags two more birdies on the back nine to equal the course record of 64 at Carnoustie and move to six under par
Irish duo Paul McGinley and Padraig Harrington record four birdies and a bogey to join several players on three under
They include Ernie Els and Paul Broadhurst who spur each other to 68s after taking eight and seven respectively at six
Garcia's first miscue occurs on the 17th - a photographer captures the moment, but not in the way he would have liked
Korea's KJ Choi drops to three under after finding Barry Burn at the last to leave him six off the pace in joint third
Garcia continues to set the pace though with a bogey-free 68 to move to nine under and a three shot lead over Stricker
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