American Kirk Triplett holds the early clubhouse lead as The Senior Open Presented by Rolex gets underway on the Old Course at St Andrews.
The 56 year old carded a seven under par round of 65 to sit one shot ahead of 2014 Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, who recorded his lowest round since he made his first Staysure Tour appearance in 2017 - a six under par round of 66, and Canadian Stephen Ames.
"This place is really something special," said Triplett. "This is really unique; when the bounces go your way, it's really fun. I'm sure at some point this week, we'll find out if I can handle the bad bounces too.
"I drove it well today. I have a local caddie; I'm really uncertain out here and that's one of the reasons I wanted a local guy this week. He was very descriptive. He said 'hit it right at that tower', or 'right at that clump of bushes', and I did that a number of times today."
McGinley is one stroke ahead of defending champion Bernhard Langer after who made seven birdies and just one bogey during his round on the hallowed links of the Old Course.
"I've been playing solid," said the Irishman. "I have played two tournaments in Europe this year and finished in the top ten in both of them. Playing the Old Course on a day like this is just fabulous.
"The wind on the back nine was really tough. That's where the teeth in St Andrews is. When it comes in off the left, that's probably the tougher of all the winds. I thought the pin positions were moderate - they were accessible."
Langer went out in 32 strokes, with four birdies on the front nine, and came back one under par for a round of 67 and sole ownership of fourth place.
In a share of fifth are last year's Staysure Tour Number One Clark Dennis, former Ryder Cup Captain Tom Lehman, Ryder Cup stars Miguel Angel Jiménez and Phillip Price and the 2016 Staysure Tour Rookie of the Year Magnus P Atlevi to name but a few,
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