• Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Round One

Westwood may withdraw in Scotland despite firing a 70

Lee Westwood escapes a bunker © Getty Images

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Lee Westwood manoeuvred himself into position to snatch the world No. 1 ranking from Tiger Woods on day one of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, despite struggling with a leg injury that he admits may force him to withdraw.

The Ryder Cup star, who needs a top-two finish to usurp Woods, fired a two-under 70 at Kingsbarns - one of three courses used for the championship, alongside St Andrews and Carnoustie - that leaves him four shots off clubhouse leaders Martin Laird, Maarten Lafeber, Thomas Bjorn and Ricardo Gonzalez.

Although Westwood frequently looked affected by the injury that saw him miss seven weeks of action after the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, he still managed to battle his way to four birdies and an eagle.

"I think I'm doing too much on the leg, basically," Westwood said. "Last week was very hard, right on the limit of getting it right, and I think two weeks in a row is probably too much in hindsight - I should have just played the Ryder Cup and gone back to rehabbing it, probably.

"I don't know [if I will withdraw], I'll get some ice on it and see how it is. I don't want to get back to where it was, it's improved a lot but it's still not right so I'll just see how it is, I guess."

US PGA champion Martin Kaymer, who has won his last two tournaments, is the best placed of the Ryder Cup team at four-under. The German showed signs of a post-Celtic Manor hangover as he toiled in the midsection of his round, but he bounced back with birdies at 16 and 18 - a 25-foot putt was his last shot of the day - that fired him firmly into contention.

Edoardo Molinari, who hit a 73, played with Gianfranco Zola © Getty Images

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Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy is at one-under, alongside Padraig Harrington, while Ross Fisher sits at two-under. The man that skippered them all to Ryder Cup glory, Colin Montgomerie, was enthused after signing for a 72.

"Fantastic to be playing with Martin [Kaymer], who played great - as per usual - to get to four-under," he said. "Great to be able to play and enjoy it, relax, and not worry about everything else and the scoreboards.

"Winning the Ryder Cup was the major goal at the start of the year but now I'm trying to make the cuts and enjoy myself and then start next year completely afresh mentally, physically and raring to go for the season ahead."

Scotland's Laird, who shot a 66 at Kingsbarns, is one of the men that the field must catch - and he hailed his performance from the tee after surging to the top of the leaderboard. "I played really well today," he said. "I hadn't played this golf course until yesterday, but I've played Carnoustie twice now and I played the Open at St Andrews.

"I've been struggling driving the ball recently on the PGA Tour but I found something a couple of days ago - and round this golf course if you drive it good you can find some birdies, so that was the key to my round today."

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