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Summary Adam Scott grabbed the British Open by carding 6-under 64 in the opening round.
Australias Adam Scott flirted with golfing history at the British Open at Royal Lytham on Thursday before settling for a six-under par 64 and the first-round lead.The 31-year-old from Adelaide, seen as one of the best players currently not to have won a major title, came to the last needing a birdie to become the first player in the long history of the majors to record a 62.Instead, a wayward drive into thick Lancashire rough resulted in a closing bogey and meant that Scott was even deprived the satisfaction of joining the 25 golfers who have recorded 63s in major golf.It was enough, however, to place him atop the leaderboard with the lowest first round ever fired in 11 Opens at Lytham and it matched the course record in Open play, the third-round 64 by Tom Lehman on his way to victory in 1996.Scott finished the day alone in the lead, but he had a slew of major winners nipping at his heels.One back on 65 were Scotlands 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie and American 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, with rising Belgian star Nicolas Colsaerts joining them late in the day.Brandt Snedeker of the United States was alone on 66, while locked in a four-way tie on 67 for most of the day were 14-times major winner Tiger Woods, 2002 Open champion Ernie Els, 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell and reigning Masters champion Bubba Watson.They were joined late on by 2010 US Open champion Rory McIlroy, Japans Toshinori Muto, Steve Stricker of the United States and Peter Hanson of Sweden.World No. 2 McIlroy birdied the par-four 16th, where he drove the green, and 18th, after taking a double-bogey six at the 15th where his drive smacked a spectator on the head and bounced out of bounds.
