Swede’s stunning start an equal course record

DAVID Lingmerth’s stunning St Andrews debut has delivered an Open Championship equal record after the Swede fired an extraordinary seven birdies on the outward nine.

Capitalising on perfect conditions, the Swede equalled the Old Course’s outward nine record of 29 set by Tony Jacklin in 1970.

Peppering the pins, jockeysized Lingmerth birdied every par-four before the turn, while also making safe pars at the par-5 fifth and par-3 eighth.

His score was one shot shy of the lowest front-nine Open record (28) set by Dennis Durnian at Royal Birkdale in 1983.

Lingmerth, 27, last month showcased his talent by trumping Justin Rose in a three-hole playoff to win the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village.

But even that effort dimmed in comparison to his exploits at St Andrews, where light winds and soft greens made the Old Course more vulnerable than usual.

Lingmerth birdied the first four holes and then the sixth, seventh and ninth in an improbable start.

American Robert Streb (five under) and Irish amateur Paul Dunne (four under) were among a growing band of early contenders.

Australian Rod Pampling, who had the honour of hitting the first drive at the 144th Championship, was even with the card after nine holes.

Sydney’s Matt Jones had two birdies and a bogey to turn at one under.

Danish veteran Thomas Bjorn took advantage of a light tail breeze to snare birdies at the fourth, fifth, sixth and eighth before slipping back to two under with bogeys at 10 and 11.

Dunne is lucky to be in the field, let alone sitting in a tie for second. He arrived at the final round of Open qualifying at Woburn with a minute to spare before shooting rounds of 70 and 65 to claim one of three places on offer.

Australia has 15 players in contention on the Old Course, led by world No.9 Jason Day and Masters champion Adam Scott.

The group is hoping to deliver Australia’s first Open champion since Greg Norman in 1993.