Phil Price admitted he was out of form before the championship began and true to his word the Newport star suffered a disappointing first day at Royal Troon.

The sparkling strokeplay which won the 37-year-old a place in the 2002 victorious Ryder Cup side seemed a distant memory as Price carded two double bogeys in a four-over-par 75.

Price was a massive nine shots behind overnight leaders Paul Casey and Thomas Levet and in need of some magic when he began alongside Jerry Kelly and Arjun Atwal early this morning.

Price, the only Welshman in the 156-strong field after Ian Woosnam's failure to qualify, said: "I had a couple of bad drives on ten and 11, which pretty much ruined my day to be honest."

It looked so promising early on as he birdied the fourth hole, but a double bogey six at the seventh knocked Price off his stride and sent his round into decline.

Ernie Els and Tiger Woods both warned that players must take their chances on the front nine or face a struggle on the infamous back nine at Royal Troon - this proved the case for Price.

After turning for home one over par the Welshman looked as though he would face an uphill struggle.

He bogeyed the tenth and then followed up with a double bogey at the notoriously difficult 11th.

He suffered a further bogey at the 15th, but restored some pride with a battling birdie at the long 16th.

"I'm feeling pretty good about how I'm doing," said Price.

"I'm just making a couple of mistakes which I'm not enjoying.

"I started really well and finished really well too.

"It was a good solid test of golf, not too windy, but with a lot of crosswinds that made it difficult. I'm still very positive I can make an impression.

"The conditions could still change and churn the leaderboard up in my favour."

Casey slept in a tent the first time he visited the Open as a teenager - this time around he's doing it in style.

Much has been made of the American dominance of Opens at Royal Troon but the first round leaderboard took on a very European feel.

The last five winners have all come from across the Atlantic but England's Casey and France's Levet are leading the way for Europe after their five-under rounds of 66. New Zealand's Michael Campbell was a shot further back.

Casey will automatically assume the role of home favourite but he warned against expecting too much.

This is only his third Open and he has missed the cut in his previous two appearances.