Just five shots back from leader Daniel Brown, the Queenslander is in a share of 11th after a 1-under 70, still feeding off the timely vein of form which saw him finish runner-up at the Genesis Scottish Open a week ago.

Just a shot back from Scott is Min Woo Lee in a tie for 18th, who shrugged off a slow start by birdieing three of his last four holes to post an even-par 71. Lee’s fellow Australian Olympic team member, Jason Day, is a further two shots back in a share of 42nd after a 2-over 73.

Open debutants Elvis Smylie (76) and Jasper Stubbs (80) struggled on the opening day, leaving some work to do if they are to achieve their shared goal of playing the weekend. Smylie showed fight, playing his last four holes in 3-under.

The Open Champion in 2022, Cam Smith was out of sorts, matching Stubbs’ 9-over 80, the Queenslander with his work cut out for him if he wants a chance of becoming a two-time winner of the Claret Jug this week.

Last season’s Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner, Kazuma Kobori – who was granted his Open Championship berth for holding that very title – held his nerve to finish with a 2-over 73 and head up the four-strong New Zealand contingent alongside Ryan Fox.

Scott didn’t waste any time providing some highlights for the early morning crowd at Troon, holing his greenside bunker shot on the first for an unlikely birdie to start his day.

A birdie at the “Postage Stamp” eighth and one more at the par-4 15th constituted Scott’s full catalogue of day one highlights, in a round he himself described as “fairly uneventful”.

“It was pretty solid,” was Scott’s concise summary of his round.

“The wind change kind of made the back nine play tough even though it was downwind. I hadn’t really played in that wind and made a couple of errors,” he added, after dropping shots at 13 and 16.

“My game is finally in some decent shape where I feel like I’m controlling the ball well. That’s what you need to do out here, especially if you’re going to give yourself a lot of chances.”

Asked post-round about his runner-up finish to Robert MacIntyre at the Genesis Scottish Open, Scott reflected that above-all it was great preparation for this week.

“Sure, I was slightly disappointed, but Bob made great putts 14 through 18 coming home,” he said.

“I was pleased to be in contention because the fact of the matter is that’s the first time I’ve contended this year.

“My game felt a lot better tee to green. For the first time really in four years or so I’ve had some confidence in some form going into a major.”

The 152nd Open Championship is live on Fox Sports, available on Foxtel and Kayo.

Australasian scores
T11       Adam Scott                     -1
T18       Min Woo Lee                   Ev
T42       Ryan Fox (NZ)                 +2
T42       Jason Day                        +2
T42       Kazuma Kobori (NZ)        +2
T69       Michael Hendry (NZ)       +3
T96       Daniel Hillier (NZ)            +5
T96       Elvis Smylie                     +5
T145     Jasper Stubbs (a)           +9
T145     Cameron Smith             +9

(Photo by Stuart Franklin/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)