Lee Westwood made a flying start to the Barclays Scottish Open to end the opening day in a share of the lead.
The 38-year-old Englishman, who will regain the world number one spot with a victory in Inverness, shot a seven-under-par 65 to join Mark Tullo at the summit, just ahead of Peter Hanson, George Coetzee and Thorbjorn Olesen.
Westwood told europeantour.com: “It's a nice way to start the next two weeks. You're never quite sure what to expect when you come to a course that you've never played before.
“I did some nice work last week on the range and hit a lot of shots out there that I probably couldn't have hit two or three weeks ago.”
Starting on the back nine Westwood made a decent start with a birdie at the par-five 12th, and he hit a run of birdie, eagle, birdie between the par-three 17th and par-four first. The former top ranked golfer improved his score further with a birdie at the par-four third before back-to-back birdies at the par-four fifth and par-five sixth, and a bogey at the par-four seventh proved to be the only blot on his scorecard.
Joining him at the summit is Chilean Tullo thanks to two hot streaks on the first day. The 33-year-old made a blistering start with four successive birdies before slipping up with a bogey at the par-four fifth. He responded with a birdie at the par-five sixth but his round appeared to come off the rails with successive bogeys at the par-four seventh and par-three eighth. However, Tullo showed his resolve on his inward nine by making five birdies over the nine holes to put himself right in contention at Castle Stuart Golf Links.
Hot on their heels are Hanson, Coetzee and Olesen, with the latter shooting a bogey-free 66, and there is a raft of players a shot further back.
Included in that group is Ryder Cup-winning captain Colin Montgomerie as he fights for a place at next week’s Open Championship. “Monty” is in the last chance saloon in his bid to qualify for the season’s third Major, and he did his chances no harm on Thursday with five birdies, and eagle and two bogeys. Also on five-under is current world number one Luke Donald. Knowing he could lose his place at the top of the Official World Golf Rankings, the 33-year-old began his challenge with six birdies and one bogey.
