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Kingsbarns - Former British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen put himself in contention to claim another memorable victory at St Andrews by taking a share of the lead after the first round of the Dunhill Links Championship on Thursday.
The South African took advantage of sunny and relatively still conditions at Kingsbarns - one of three courses hosting the prestigious $5 million event - to shoot a 6-under 66 and join Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Markus Brier and Michael Hoey at the top of the leaderboard.
The tournament concludes on Sunday at St Andrews - commonly known as the "Home of Golf" and the scene of Oosthuizen's 2010 British Open win where he swept to a surprise victory by a seven-shot margin.
"There's nothing better than holding the claret jug at St Andrews," Oosthuizen said. "Hopefully at the end of the week, it's a different trophy. That would be special."
Former US Open champion Graeme McDowell was one of six players a stroke behind after shooting a 67, where top-ranked Luke Donald shot a 69 to sit three shots off the lead.
Each member of the 178-man field will play all three par-72 courses over the first three days of the pro-am, but it was at Kingsbarns where all the high-profile contenders started off and where most of the low scoring was made on Thursday.
Seven of the top 10 on the leaderboard played their first rounds there, with Brier and Hoey (both St Andrews) and Scotland's Marc Warren (5-under at Carnoustie) the only players to make a serious mark elsewhere.
Oosthuizen missed last year's Links - and with it a return to St Andrews two months after his maiden major win - because of an ankle injury. But he seized the opportunity this time, making seven birdies in his round after starting on No 10 with his brother Rikus as a playing partner.
"I didn't watch (the Links) on TV last year because I was too upset that I wasn't there," said Oosthuizen, whose sole victory this year came at the Africa Open on home soil. "But it's been nice to come back here and experience everything again. With the weather like this, you should take advantage of it. You never know what's round the corner here."
Cabrera-Bello squandered the chance to take the outright lead on 7-under - which he shot two years ago at Kingsbarns - by bogeying the last. The 27-year-old Spaniard earlier rolled in six birdies and an eagle at the par-5 No 3.
"Obviously this course suits me," said Cabrera-Bello, who is without a tournament victory since the Austrian Open in 2009. "I haven't been playing great lately so to start with that score here is fantastic."
A double-bogey 6 at No 16 blotted an otherwise flawless round by Brier around St Andrews, where Hoey drained an eagle putt from just off the green on No 18 to make it a four-way share of the lead.
In a better place mentally after turning to former coach Clive Tucker for advice over the past month, a refreshed McDowell returned from three weeks off to shoot four birdies and an eagle at Kingsbarns but was left to regret a double-bogey 6 at No 12, his third hole.
Second-ranked Lee Westwood, Europe's 2010 Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, three-time major winner Padraig Harrington and former amateur star Tom Lewis were among the 11 players on 4-under - a shot clear of Donald, who is bidding for a fifth victory of 2011 to pull even further clear at the top of the European Tour money list.
Aside from a bogey at No 7, where he claimed he three-putted for the first time since the British Open in July, Donald was error-free, making three birdies in five holes after the turn just when the wind started to pick up off the North Sea in the early afternoon.
The benign weather is forecast to stay until Sunday, meaning the low scoring should continue.
Fifth-ranked Dustin Johnson, the top American in the field, is five shots off the pace after a 71 at Kingsbarns while US Open champion Rory McIlroy shot 72.
First round scores in the European Tour Alfred Dunhill Links Championship being played at the Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
St Andrews Old Course
66 - Markus Brier (AUT), Michael Hoey
68 - Steve Webster, Romain Wattel (FRA), Shane Lowry, Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE)
69 David Drysdale, Daniel Gaunt (AUS), James Kingston (RSA), Tommy Fleetwood, Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Tano Goya (ARG)
70 - Michael Campbell (NZL), Peter Lawrie
71 - Marcel Siem (GER), Mathias Gronberg (SWE), Steven O'Hara, Oliver Fisher, Marcus Both (AUS), Paul Lawrie, Oskar Henningsson (SWE), Bradley Dredge, Patrick Reed (USA), Henrik Stenson (SWE)
72 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Richie Ramsay, Alan McLean, Joost Luiten (NED), Todd Hamilton (USA), Seve Benson, Jose Manuel Lara (ESP), Jbe Kruger (RSA), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Ross Mc Gowan
73 - Christian Cevaer (FRA), Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (FRA), Richard McEvoy, Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Scott Jamieson, Brett Rumford (AUS), Johnson Wagner (USA), Neil Schietekat (RSA)
74 - Richard Bland, Alvaro Velasco (ESP), Robert Rock, Stephen Gallacher, David Dixon, Robert Dinwiddie, Keith Horne (RSA)
75 - Gary Orr, Richard Finch, Phillip Price, Kieran Pratt (AUS), Michael Jonzon (SWE)
76 - Scott Strange (AUS)
80 - David Bransdon (AUS)
Carnoustie Course
67 - Marc Warren
69 - David Horsey, Jack Senior, Sandy Lyle
70 - George Murray, Martin Wiegele (AUT), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Andrew Dodt (AUS), David Lynn, Johan Edfors (SWE)
71 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI), John Daly (USA), Matt Haines, Jamie Donaldson, Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)
72 - Alex Haindl (RSA), Robert Jan Derksen (NED), Joakim Haeggman (SWE), Mark Tullo (CHI), Ross Fisher, Oliver Wilson, Jason Knutzon (USA), Oscar Floren (SWE), Bronson La Cassie (AUS), Peter O'Malley (AUS)
73 - Anthony Kang (USA), John Parry, David Howell, Gareth Maybin, Andre Stolz (AUS), Nick Dougherty, Danny Willett, Maarten Lafeber (NED), Barry Lane
74 - Rhys Davies, Rikard Karlberg (SWE), Pariya Junhasavasdikul (THA), Michiel Bothma (RSA), Andy Sullivan, Gary Boyd, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN), Mark Foster, Benjamin Hebert (FRA)
75 - Steven Brown (GBR), Peter Whiteford, Robert Coles, Peter Karmis (RSA)
76 - Christian Nilsson (SWE), David McKenzie (AUS), Josh Cunliffe (RSA), Steven Jones (AUS), Paul McGinley, Rohan Blizard (AUS)
77 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Marcus Fraser (AUS)
79 - Aaron Townsend (AUS)
Kingsbarns Course
66 - Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP)
67 - Graeme McDowell, James Byrne, Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Gregory Havret (FRA), James Morrison
68 - Peter Hanson (SWE), Colin Montgomerie, Martin Kaymer (GER), Tom Lewis, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood
69 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Stephen Dodd, Alexander Noren (SWE), Luke Donald, Simon Dyson
70 - Rory McIlroy, Jeppe Huldahl (DEN), Thomas Bjorn (DEN), Simon Khan
71 - Matteo Manassero (ITA), Rafael Echenique (ARG), Victor Dubuisson (FRA), Graeme Storm, Dustin Johnson (USA), Anthony Wall, J J Henry (USA), Gareth Paddison (NZL), Paul Cutler, Niclas Fasth (SWE), Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Pablo Martin (ESP)
72 - Chris Wood, Retief Goosen (RSA), Ernie Els (RSA), George Coetzee (RSA), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Matthew Griffin (AUS)
73 - Thomas Aiken (RSA), Damien McGrane, Matthew Zions (AUS), Darren Clarke, Mark Brown (NZL), Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP)
74 - Scott Hend (AUS), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA)
75 - Floris De Vries (NED), Thomas Levet (FRA)
76 - Anthony Michael (RSA), Soren Hansen (DEN)
77 - Kenneth Ferrie
