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St. Andrews - Rory McIlroy fired the lowest first round in British Open history, a nine-under par 63, to seize the lead on Thursday at the fabled Old Course and outshine top-ranked Tiger Woods.
Had the 21-year-old from Northern Ireland not missed a five-foot birdie putt at the 17th, the fabled Road Hole that proved day one's hardest challenge, he would have made even more history at the birthplace of golf.
"It sort of went through my mind at the 17th tee that 62 would be the lowest round in a major. Probably why I missed the putt," McIlroy said.
"I don't think I can come off feeling let down. I'm leading the Open Championship."
McIlroy took full advantage of ideal wind-less conditions on the defenceless Old Course early to finish two strokes ahead of South African Louis Oosthuizen as the 150th anniversary Open began.
"Going out there with no wind, you are never going to get St. Andrews playing any easier," McIlroy said. "It gives me a little bit of a buffer out there going into the next three days."
American John Daly, who won the 1995 Open at St. Andrews, was three adrift along with Scotsman Andrew Coltart, England's Steven Tiley, Welshman Bradley Dredge and Sweden's Peter Hanson.
Woods, the 2000 and 2005 Open champion here who seeks his first victory since a sex scandal destroyed his iconic image, was four back after a bogey at 17 and a missed birdie putt at 18.
"Today felt awkward because there was absolutely no wind whatsoever and you never play a links course with no wind," Woods said. "You had to take advantage of it. I felt like I did a pretty good job of that."
Woods shared eighth with fellow Americans Lucas Glover, Nick Watney and Sean O'Hair, England's Lee Westwood, Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed, Spain's Alejandro Canizares, German Marcel Siem and 2009 PGA Championship winner Yang Yong-Eun of South Korea.
Third-ranked Westwood birdied the last five holes on the front nine, answered a bogey at 13 with a birdie at 14 and ended with four pars.
A Road Hole bogey cost Oosthuizen, who had four birdies in a row ending at 10 and birdied 14 and 15 after the wind came up before stumbling at 17 and scrambling for par at 18.
"The first nine holes there were a lot of birdies out there," he said. "Got really windy when we turned on 12. Definitely was a good round."
Afternoon wind boosted scores. World number two Phil Mickelson began with 12 pars, took a double bogey, then fired four pars before closing with a birdie to finish 10 strokes off the pace.
McIlroy shot the first British Open 63 since Nick Faldo and Payne Stewart in the last round at Royal St. George's in 1993 and the first in a major since Woods in round two of the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills.
"This course just suits me," McIlroy said. "It just fits my eye."
Ninth-ranked McIlroy missed the cut at this year's Masters and US Open but silenced any skeptics.
McIlroy eagled the par-4 ninth, began the back nine with three birdies in a row and added a 12-foot birdie at the par-5 14th. He missed the birdie bid at 17 but finished with a four-foot birdie at 18.
"The eagle at nine turned things around," McIlroy said. "I got going from there."
Daly, 44, fired four birdies in a row and set himself up as a people's choice to hoist the Claret Jug as Tom Watson was last year and Greg Norman was in 2008, although both bids failed.
"It would be the most gratifying victory I could ever have," Daly said. "I would appreciate it more than any tournament I've won."
Daly has struggled with weight, women and alcohol but become beloved by fans in the process.
"I've never run from my mistakes," Daly said. "I have been the man you are supposed to be when you screw up and I've screwed up an awful lot. It's how you come back that matters."
Daly has not won since 2004 and has needed sponsor exemptions to play. He's ranked 455th and has only once broken the top 55 on the US tour this year.
After opening and closing the front nine with back-to-back birdies, Daly birdied 10 and 11 but took a bogey at 17 and had a birdie lip-out at 18, yet matched his low round of 2010.
If anyone was going to have a redemptive triumph this week, the money literally was on Woods, a betting favourite despite the scandal.
Polite applause greeted three-time Open winner Woods as it did at this year's Masters and US Open, where he shared fourth each time.
Woods, seeking a 15th major crown to move three shy of Jack Nicklaus' all-time record, sank a 25-foot birdie putt at nine then birdied three holes in a row starting at 12 before the bogey at 17.
Collated first round scores at the 139th British Open Championship on Thursday (par 72, a-denotes amateur):
63 - Rory McIlroy (NIR)
65 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA)
66 - John Daly (USA), Andrew Coltart (SCO), Steven Tiley (ENG), Bradley Dredge (WAL), Peter Hanson (SWE)
67 - Marcel Siem (GER), Nick Watney (USA), Lucas Glover (USA), Sean O'Hair (USA), Tiger Woods (USA), Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Y.E. Yang (KOR), Lee Westwood (ENG)
68 - Robert Rock (ENG), John Senden (AUS), Ross McGowan (ENG), Trevor Immelman (RSA), Oliver Wilson (ENG), Ross Fisher (ENG), Camilo Villegas (COL), Ryo Ishikawa (JPN), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Jeong Jin (KOR -a), Shane Lowry (IRL), Vijay Singh (FIJ), Ricky Barnes (USA)
69 - Paul Lawrie (SCO), Steve Marino (USA), Simon Dyson (ENG), Robert Allenby (AUS), Hunter Mahan (USA), Ernie Els (RSA), Mark O'Meara (USA), Bo Van Pelt (USA), Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Dustin Johnson (USA), Paul Casey (ENG), Retief Goosen (RSA), Edoardo Molinari (ITA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Danny Chia (MAS)
70 - Ryan Moore (USA), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Stewart Cink (USA), Justin Rose (ENG), Chris Wood (ENG), Darren Clarke (NIR), JB Holmes (USA), Zane Scotland (ENG), Tano Goya (ARG). Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR), Mark Calcavecchia (USA), Kevin Na (USA), Toru Taniguchi (JPN)
71 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Tim Clark (RSA), Ian Poulter (ENG), Jason Day (AUS), Kenny Perry (USA), Stephen Gallacher (SCO), Hirofumi Miyase (JPN), Tom Lehman (USA), Graeme McDowell (NIR), Steve Stricker (USA), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Eric Chun (KOR -a), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Heath Slocum (USA), Tim Petrovic (USA), Gary Clark (ENG)
72 - Soren Hansen (DEN), Todd Hamilton (USA), Nick Faldo (ENG), Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (ESP), Yuta Ikeda (JPN), Matt Kuchar (USA), An Byeong-Hun (KOR -a), Michael Sim (AUS), Tom Pernice (USA), Mark Haastrup (DEN), Colm Moriarty (IRL), Scott Verplank (USA), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP), Adam Scott (AUS), Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Zach Johnson (USA), Ben Crane (USA), Brian Gay (USA), Gareth Maybin (NIR), D.A. Points (USA)
73 - Thomas Levet (FRA), Loren Roberts (USA), Bill Haas (USA), Jason Dufner (USA), Alexander Noren (SWE), Noh Seoung-Yui (KOR), Padraig Harrington (IRL), Tom Watson (USA), Mike Weir (CAN), Davis Love (USA), Gregory Havret (FRA), Jamie Abbott (ENG -a), Tom Whitehouse (ENG), Peter Senior (AUS), Jeff Overton (USA), Marc Leishman (USA), Luke Donald (ENG), Angel Cabrera (ARG), Phil Mickelson (USA), Rhys Davies (WAL), Richard S. Johnson (SWE)
74 - Mathew Goggin (AUS), Martin Laird (SCO), Shunsuke Sonoda (JPN), Koumei Oda (JPN), Simon Khan (ENG), Francesco Molinari (ITA), Colin Montgomerie (SCO), Bubba Watson, Darren Fichardt (RSA), Paul Goydos (USA)
75 - Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Phillip Archer (ENG), Sandy Lyle (SCO), Hiroyuki Fujita (JPN), Jason Bohn (USA), Kurt Barnes (AUS), Josh Cunliffe (RSA)
76 - Ryuichi Oda (JPN), Cameron Percy (AUS), Ben Curtis (USA), Justin Leonard (USA), K.J. Choi (KOR), Pauls Streeter (ENG), Jean Hugo (RSA), Park Jae-Bum (KOR)
77 - David Duval (USA), Anders Hansen (DEN), Katsumasa Miyamoto (JPN), Jim Furyk (USA)
78 - Glen Day (USA), Tyrrell Hatton (ENG -a), Geroge McNeill (USA)
79 - Jerry Kelly (USA), Simon Edwards (WAL)
80 - Victor Dubuisson (FRA -a), Jose Manuel Lara (ESP)
81 - Ewan Porter (AUS), Laurie Canter (ENG -a)
