Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Tiger Woods has a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington during the first round of the PGA Championship after shooting a bogey-free 5-under-par 67.

Woods, the No. 1 player in golf’s Official World Ranking, started his pursuit of a 15th major championship by making five birdies at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota.

It’s just the third time in his career that Woods has opened a major tournament without making a bogey. The other two times were when he won the U.S. and British Opens in 2000. Woods hasn’t led after the opening round of a major since the 2005 British Open, which he also won.

“I was just very comfortable with what I was doing today,” Woods said in a televised interview. “It’s difficult, but you can make birdies. You can be aggressive going at some of these flags, you don’t have to be so conservative.”

Woods, coming off consecutive wins at the Buick Open and Bridgestone Invitational, played alongside Harrington, the defending champion who opened with a 4-under 68.

Robert Allenby, Mathew Goggin, Hunter Mahan and Alvaro Quiros finished the opening round at 3-under.

Phil Mickelson, second to Woods in the world rankings, was among today’s afternoon starters and is 1-over par through nine holes. Vijay Singh, among the other late starters, is on the course at 2-under.

Woods is a 9-5 favorite as he tries to join Walter Hagen and Jack Nicklaus as five-time PGA Championship winners. He started his round on the 10th hole and made birdies at three of the course’s four par-5 holes, including the 633-yard third hole and the 642-yard 15th.

Longest Layout

Of Woods’s 14 major titles, 10 have come at par-72 courses, where he’s been able to take advantage of his power. At 7,674 yards, Hazeltine is the longest layout in major championship history.

“I hit the ball well pretty much all day,” Woods said. “I felt like this really could have been a low number today.”

While Woods has five U.S. PGA Tour victories this season, he’s yet to win a major, tying for sixth at the Masters Tournament and U.S. Open before failing to qualify for the final two rounds at the British Open.

The PGA Championship winner will receive $1.35 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Matuszewski in New York at matuszewski@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: August 13, 2009 17:21 EDT