Adam Scott tied a course record at Royal Lytham & St Annes on Thursday, equaling the best ever British Open round at the course with a 64. He leads the field at 6-under par after day one, and there's a strong field chasing him, with some of golf's biggest names putting up low scores as well.
The weather has been discussed constantly in the build-up to the British Open, but wind and rain stayed away, allowing for low scores. Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy both had very solid days, finishing at 3-under par. They're joined at 3-under by Masters champion Bubba Watson and former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell, among others.
Nicholas Colsaerts, former Masters winner Zach Johnson and Paul Lawrie are all just behind Scott at 5-under. Brandt Snedeker sits alone at 4-under par.
World No. 1 Luke Donald avoided disaster, but was still slightly disappointing and put up a score of even par. Lee Westwood, who enters the open with huge expectations every year, disappointed yet again on Thursday. He's 3-over par and will struggle to make the cut on Friday. Phil Mickelson also struggled and finished at 3-over.
You can find a full 2012 British Open Leaderboard at Golf.com.
For more on the Open, stick with SB Nation Tampa Bay's 2012 British Open StoryStream and SB Nation's golf hub.