 Els is regaining his best form following knee surgery |
South Africa's Ernie Els made a superb start to his Open campaign with a four-under-par 68 at Hoylake. The 2002 champion, returning to his best form after knee surgery, had six birdies and two bogeys and also missed a good birdie chance at 17.
Fiji's world number three Vijay Singh had a quiet day but stayed in touch with two late birdies for a 70.
Retief Goosen of South Africa also went round in 70 while US Open champion Geoff Ogilvy returned a 71.
Els, whose Open victory came at Muirfield, said: "I played nine holes yesterday afternoon and the greens were very firm, almost out of control.
"It would have been a lot tougher if it had stayed like that but today was good for scoring.
"It is a major championship and the first round. You definitely don't want to shoot yourself out of it.
"You are not taking any chances, just trying to keep any high numbers off your card. But if it stays soft like today you will see some 64s out there."
Keiichiro Fukabori of Japan is one shot off the lead after firing eight birdies and three bogeys in his round of 67.
Australian players were very much in evidence at the top of the leaderboard, with Adam Scott, Marcus Fraser and Mark Hensby all carding 68s.
Steve Elkington returned a 71, Rod Pampling and Robert Allenby had matching 69s, while Nick O'Hern shot 70.
Aaron Baddeley went round in 70, a score that was matched by New Zealand's 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell.
Canada's Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters champion, carded a 68, as did South Korea's SK Ho, while Argentina's Angel Cabrera had a 71.
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Highlights: The Open first round