English duo Danny Willett and Ian Poulter made the early running on the first day of the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Not since Paul Lawrie was a surprise winner at Carnoustie in 1999 has the event had a home winner, but 2016 Masters champion Willett and his compatriot, who came through a qualifier to book his spot at Southport, were tied at one under par with Sweden's Alex Noren.
Willett, who has struggled with a back injury recently and failed to play the second round in two of his last three events, birdied the second to make his early move with Poulter, three groups behind, holing from 30 feet at the same hole to join him.
Along with Noren they were the only three players under par of the 30 out on the course after two hours' play.
Former champion Mark O'Meara had a nightmare start with a quadruple-bogey eight as he got the Open under way in rainy and breezy conditions.
The 60-year-old, who won the second major of his career when the Open was staged at Birkdale in 1998, teed off at 6:35am alongside fellow American Ryan Moore and England's Chris Wood.
Players had enjoyed dry and sunny conditions on the Southport links until a thunderstorm blew in late Wednesday afternoon and forced the abandonment of practice.
And we're off...#TheOpen pic.twitter.com/VymiAUXEYH
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2017
Light rain greeted the players on the first tee on Thursday morning and O'Meara sliced his drive over the fence and out of bounds to the right of the fairway and then pulled his second attempt off the tee into a left-side bunker which eventually added up to an eight.
Wood, who finished fifth at Birkdale in 2008 and won the silver medal as leading amateur, made par with Moore taking six..
Birkdale lays claim to the toughest opening hole on the rota and that was backed up by the performance of the early starters, with the first 30 players playing the 448-yarder in 25 over par.
But with the rain giving way, wind easing and patches of blue sky beginning to emerge, conditions started to ease and just under 90 minutes after play began the first players managed to get under par.
With the weather expected to improve as the day progressed it could play into the hands of an out-of-form Rory McIlroy, an Open champion at nearby Hoylake three years ago, who tees off at 2.48pm.
The Open is under way at Royal Birkdale @gregallenRTE reports for @morningireland on the early starters #TheOpen2017 #rtesport pic.twitter.com/znVztsbrI2
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 20, 2017
The Northern Irishman, an Open winner at Royal Liverpool three years ago, has had his fair share of good and bad draws at The Open when it comes to the conditions and insists he has come to terms with the vagaries of the British weather in the year's third major.
"I've been on the wrong side and I've been on the right side," he said in his pre-tournament press conference.
"But I think with the Open Championship you're playing in them enough that you're going to get your good draws and bad draws.
"It's a part of it that you have to accept and I've learned to accept it over the years."
