McIlroy, Woods struggle as Donaldson takes lead

"I put something up there and lost it," Woods said of his bogeys on the back. "I had another chance at 3 to make another bogey in row and made a good save there. That kind of got it going a little bit. But it was tough out there. I didn't hit it that well. On top of that, this wind just magnifies it. You really have to control your ball today."

It was left to the 47th-ranked Donaldson to show how to overcome the wind and master the narrow fairways. He had six birdies — including holing a bunker shot on his 12th — to go along with a bogey. The Welshman is one shot clear of Thorbjorn Olesen of Denmark and Pablo Larrazabal of Spain. Three others including Henrik Stenson of Sweden are a further shot back in fourth.

"Solid start, played some pretty good golf out there," said Donaldson, who was looking for his second European Tour victory. "Obviously 5 under is a great start. I played pretty good in most of the round but there were times when it wasn't quite on, we made some good up and downs. It was a matter of scoring well and keeping the momentum going."