by South African Darren Fichardt threatened to score the second 59 in DP World Tour history before taking a narrow lead after the first day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Fichardt shot two eagles and nine birdies in a sub-par 61 at Kingsbarns, just one shot outside the course record shared by Branden Grace and Peter Uihlein.
On a low-scoring day in ideal conditions, that gave the 49-year-old a one-stroke lead over Australian Cameron John, whose 62 was also posted at Kingsbarns, while Scott Jamieson and Andrew Wilson shot 63 at the same spot.
New Zealander Daniel Hillier returned a 63 on the Old Course at St Andrews.
Fichardt had a chance to break 60 when he went his first 16 holes in 11 under thanks to two eagles and eight birdies, but three-putted at the eighth – his 17th – before birdieing the ninth.
“I started with a birdie on my first hole, the 10th, and then made a really bad three-putt on the next hole,” Fichardt said.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is going to be tough today,’ and then I made a 100-foot putt for eagle on the next hole, and then the train kept moving.
“It was crazy. If I was on the green, it either went in or it just missed. The putter was really hot and the driver was exceptional. So I never really had any problems.
“When I got to 11 under, I felt good. I started to wonder if it was a par-73 or a 72 because I know Gracey shot 60 that year. A small 59 on this track would have been good, but I just had to misread the wind on my penultimate hole, the eighth hole. Unfortunately, three putts there.
LIV Golf teammates Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton produced the lowest rounds of the day at Carnoustie, with Rahm revealing he had two-time tournament winner Hatton to thank for a successful strategy that will have dismayed traditionalists.
“In the words of Tyrrell, just hit the driver over every bunker in the rough and lob the wedge into the green,” Rahm said when asked to explain his tactical approach after a 65.
“That’s basically what I did. I missed it in all the right places. My first fairway on our front nine was the 17th and I was three under. That’s a bit of what you can do when it’s not an Open Championship configuration.
“The rough is a little lower so you can be aggressive and get short irons into the greens and that’s what I did today.”
Playing alongside his father Gerry in the pro-am event, Rory McIlroy could only manage a three-under 69 at Carnoustie, which left him in 73rd place.
“It was a perfect day to play Carnoustie,” McIlroy said. “I probably didn’t really take advantage of the conditions like I wanted or should have, but it’s a solid round and something to try and build on tomorrow at Kingsbarns.
“It’s my dad’s 65th birthday on Saturday, so being able to walk around the Old Course with him is going to be a pretty cool occasion.”
