Paul Casey and Thomas Levet made the most of the pleasant conditions at Royal Troon to take a share of the first round lead in the Open championship.
The duo both shot impressive five-under 66s to take a one shot lead over Michael Campbell and a two shot lead over a host of players including South Korea's KJ Choi, Vijay Singh and Gary Evans.
Casey went out in two-under 34 but managed to be three-under for the far more difficult homeward nine. Casey hit bogeys on the ninth and 12th but made up for them with birdies at the first, fourth, eighth, 10th, 11th, 16th and 18th. The final two came with putts of 30 and 16 feet.
For Levet it was more of the same after his blistering final round at Loch Lomond that gave him the Scottish Open and booked his place in the Open. The Frenchman had four birdies in five holes from the fourth and had the added bonus of a 33-foot putt on the trick 17th.
Ireland's Darren Clarke remains very much in contention but was left kicking himself after a double bogey on the final hole cost him a share of the overnight lead alongside Levet and Casey.
After sizing up his shot on the fairway, Clarke went with a five-iron from 191 yards out, but he saw his shot carry far too much weight and end up on the out of bounds path in front of the clubhouse. Clarke then two putted to finish three shots off the pace.
Afterwards, he said: "I just got the wind wrong on the last. It was the wrong club - I had 191 yards and hit a 5-iron and it went out of bounds. It's disappointing to throw away two shots at the last hole."
Meanwhile Padraig Harrington admits that his chances of winning the Open are all but gone after he struggled to a first round of 76. Harrington finished five over par and 10 shots off the lead held by Paul Casey and Thomas Levet.
"I definitely think my chance has gone. I'm not too disappointed as I knew I wasn't playing great. I didn't get many breaks," a disappointed Harrington said.
Elsewhere, Paul McGinley shot a two under 69, the best Irish score of the day, Daniel Sugrue fired a three over 74, Brian McElhinney recorded a five over 76 while Graeme McDowell shot an eight over 79.
