Woods relieved to finish on 71

OAKMONT, Pennsylvania, June 14 (Reuters) World number one Tiger Woods was relieved to post a one-over-par 71 in the first round of the US Open today.

''That was a nice way to end the round, 16, 17 and 18 were the key,'' Woods told reporters after finishing three shots behind early leader Nick Dougherty of Britain.

''I ran a putt eight feet by but saved par at 16, made a nice up-and-down for birdie at 17 and a nice par at 18. I could have lost three shots there.'' Woods birdied the 17th after nearly driving the green at the 313-yard par-four and pitching up to three feet.

At 18, he launched a prodigious 330-yard drive that settled in thick rough right of the fairway. He came out short of the green but hit a delicate shot close to the hole to salvage par on an Oakmont course softened by rain on Wednesday night.

''The course is as soft and receptive as you possibly can have it and there's still not a lot of red (below-par) scores,'' Woods said.

Woods went out in level-par 35 after mixing two birdies with a pair of bogeys.

He struggled off the tee at the start of the second nine, finding the rough three times in a row and bogeying the 10th and 12th.

But the 31-year-old American began to get back on track at 13 by sinking a six-foot downhill putt to save par.

''This course is different to most US Opens where you've got to drive the ball in the fairway and hit the ball short of the hole for an uphill putt,'' said Woods.

''Here all the greens fall in different directions. If you're below the hole you might run off the green, and when you're on the green you can be facing a downhiller or a triple-breaker.

''This is as easy as the course will play and it's still pretty hard. Imagine if it didn't rain last night.'' Reuters DKS VP0107