Paul Lawrie conjured his best Open Championship round in almost two decades as he thrust himself into a share of second place during the first round at Royal Lytham & St Anne's.
The 43-year-old Aberdonian, the winner of the Claret Jug at Carnoustie in 1999, posted a neatly assembled five-under-par 65 to lurk just a single shot behind Australia's Adam Scott, who equalled the course record to set a brisk pace.
Lawrie, who missed the cut in last weekend's Scottish Open, responded to that with considerable purpose on the Lancashire links. The Ryder Cup hopeful, who made the most of the calm conditions that greeted the early starters, chipped in at both the third and the fifth amid an eventful round comprising 23 putts.
When he knocked in a short birdie putt on the 18th, following a superb approach with a seven-iron, Lawrie had put the finishing touches to his lowest card in the Open since he had a 65 in the closing round of the 1993 championship at Royal St George's.
"It was a very strange start, probably the strangest start of my career," said Lawrie, who has missed the cut seven times in the Open since his victory 13 years ago. "On the first six holes, I didn't really hit many good shots but I was three-under. The weather helped. It was almost flat calm so I had the chance to attack the course a wee bit.
"I putted as poorly as I can remember at the Scottish Open so I spent many hours on the indoor putting green. Hopefully last week was just a bit of a blip with the putter."
Lawrie, who came from 10 shots behind on the final day to triumph in a play-off at Carnoustie, received a warm welcome from the galleries on England's golf coast. "I heard my name called a lot, which down in England is a bit of a surprise," he added.
Scott, the 32-year-old from Adelaide who has still to win a major title, roared to the front with a sparkling six-under round that gave him a slender lead over Lawrie, Nicolas Colsaerts and former Masters champion, Zach Johnson.
Scott, with just one top-10 finish in his 12 previous Open outings, missed out on setting a new Lytham record low when he spilled a shot on the final hole.
He had made over-par starts in both the Masters and the US Open this season and said: "It was surprising and very pleasing to go out and play some solid golf. It's what I haven't done in the first round of the majors this year and that was my goal here; to play today like it was the Sunday and there was no tomorrow.
Scott, who also out in the benign morning conditions, added: "It was just like a nice walk in the park today and it was not what we experienced in the practice rounds. I'm sure there's going to be some weather elements thrown at us over the next three days. If that happens, I'll just knuckle down. I'm confident and I think I can get around here no matter what the conditions are."
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