As play got underway on Thursday at the 2012 Open Championship, scoring conditions were perfect after a light overnight rain and stagnent winds at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Many golfers took advantage of their early draw, including Tiger Woods and current tournament leader Adam Scott.
Scott, the Australian native, came close to an opening round major championship scoring record before finishing with a 6-under 64, tying the lowest score shot ever at Royal Lytham.
After the round Scott had this to say about the conditions and his mindset this week:
"It's nice just to take advantage of the calm conditions today,'' Scott said. "It was surprising but very pleasing to go out and play some solid golf. It's what I haven't done the first rounds of the majors this year, and that was my goal here, really, starting the week was to play today like it was Sunday and there was no tomorrow."
As you may recall, Scott now has Tiger Woods' former caddy Steve Williams on the bag.
As for Tiger Woods, he came out of the gate red hot, firing four birdies in his first seven holes on the day. He would eventually finish with a 3-under 67, three shots behind Scott.
Woods was on point off the tee and with his iron play, missing just one fairway while hitting 15 of 18 greens. But like it's been this season, Tiger needed 30 putts on the day. Here is what he had to say about the soft conditions after his round:
"It was pretty soft,'' he said. "The wind wasn't blowing, and we're backing golf balls up. That's something we just don't see. On the first hole is a perfect indication; I hit a 5 iron straight at it, and it rolled out 8 feet. I can't remember the last time it does that on links golf course.
As for the other competitors, Paul Lawrie and Zach Johnson each fired an opening round 65 to sit just one shot behind Adam Scott. Bubba Watson, Ernie Els, Graeme McDowell and Kegan Bradley all fired 67's to remain tied with Woods.
Full leaderboard can be found here.
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