Green for go as Australian gets off to a flyer at Loch Lomond

FRESHENED by a gentle breeze and mild overhead conditions on a meticulously presented golf course, the first day of the Barclays Scottish Open encouraged some exceptional golf and a feast of low scoring.

The best of the best, a seven-under-par round of 64, was posted by the Australian left-hander Richard Green.

A racing enthusiast with a passion for fast cars, Green emerged from the back of the grid to secure pole position at Loch Lomond thanks to six birdies, an eagle and just one bogey. It was a stark contrast with his performance in the Pro-Am on Wednesday when his swing was out of kilter.

Not always a cheerleader for the bonnie banks, Green took issue, though, with the suggestion he didn't really care for Tom Weiskopf's admired design. "I don't dislike the golf course," he insisted. "I love the place – it's fantastic. There was just a period for six or seven years when the course was very wet, very heavy and didn't suit my game."

The highlight of Green's day was that 3 on the par-5 13th. "I hit a great drive, great 3-wood onto the green and rolled in a 35-foot putt with eight feet of right– to-left break," he said. "That just kick-started things again."

Green finished one stroke ahead of Scotland's Martin Laird, Englishman Graeme Storm, Spain's Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano and Ireland's Paul McGinley. The consistent Spaniard – he's 14th in the Race to Dubai – reeled off nine 3s and showered the course with praise. "You always get good results at Loch Lomond, especially this year when the greens are probably the best I've played."

Storm, who once worked in a cake factory, has taken a leaf out of Tiger Woods' book and is trimmer and fitter these days. He's shed a stone in weight and says his golf is also moving in the right direction. McGinley felt the course was more testing in the afternoon when the wind was a little stronger and the greens less smooth. He was buoyed, though, by the prospect of competing in Scotland. A regular visitor to these parts – he's a season-ticket holder at Celtic Park – the Ryder Cup player said: "I've always enjoyed coming to Scotland – there's something about it. I get a lot of support here, at least from half the population ..."

A stroke further back on 66, Adam Scott is now the 12/1 second favourite behind Green at 10/1. Having played here once in a junior tournament as well as finishing third in the Scottish Open eight years ago, Scott enjoys Loch Lomond.

The Australian's 66 was error– free and reflected the golfer's happier frame of mind now he's going out with Ana Ivanovic. The Serbian tennis player was an interested onlooker as Scott reeled off five birdies. After breaking up with the Hollywood actress Kate Hudson, Scott was asked if it helped his golf to be in a happier frame of mind. "Absolutely," he replied. "Everyone knows what happened to me last year and I had some stuff to deal with, but that didn't have a direct impact on me playing poorly earlier this year. But it's nice to be in a good frame of mind in all areas of life, obviously. It helps that she is a top sports star. We talk about heaps of stuff, but we like to leave our private life fairly private. I'm a tennis fan and I enjoy watching her."

While Laird was the best of the Scots, seven of the 14 home players bettered par and there were impressive performances from David Drysdale, 67, and Paul Lawrie, 68. It's been the most rewarding season of the Dunbar golfer's career and he admits the change from battling to keep his playing privileges to keeping company with some of the game's top players has been therapeutic. "Not having to make cheques to keep my card is a position I've never been in before," he said. "It seems to relax me on the golf course."

In the same group as Australia's Stuart Appleby, 70, and Fernandez-Castano, Drysdale didn't look out of place. In fact, between the first and the fifth, when he reeled off five consecutive birdies, the East Lothian golfer was immaculate. "I got in the zone, if you like," he said. "But you can't expect anything in this game. As soon as you think you've got it, it comes up and bites you."

The Aberdonian, who opened with rounds of 68 and 67 here a year ago, is warming to Loch Lomond and reacted positively to the smooth putting surfaces. "I played really well going out and putted well for the first time in a long time, I nearly holed everything I looked at," he said.

Out in 32, Lawrie's momentum was interrupted on the tenth. "I hit a poor second shot and pulled it into the water," he said. "In the end I made a good bogey there. The second shot on the 12th was also awful, fat and short into the dip, from where I made another bogey. I birdied the par-5 13th and then matched par on the way home.

"Last year was the first time I had a bit of a chance to win the tournament and I've been coming here for a long time. So I feel very comfortable, particularly on the greens. I putted well last year and again today. If they didn't go in, they were shaving the hole.

"It was the first time I'd played with both Martin Kaymer and Camillo Villegas. They were nice players, lovely lads. We had a few people walking round and it was good fun."

This is not how Wallace Booth will remember his 83 or Colin Montgomerie a disappointing 73. A member of the Scotland team which won the Eisenhower Trophy last year, Booth came home in 45 and is playing for pride today.

Monty is 4-11 to miss the cut and needs to step up a gear to prove the bookies wrong.

TEE TIMES

(GB & Ire unless stated, x denotes amateurs)

Starting at hole 1

0730 Paul McGinley, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Rodney Pampling (Aus)

0740 Peter O'Malley (Aus), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Marcus Fraser (Aus)

0750 Jamie Donaldson, Francois Delamontagne (Fra), Gary Orr

0800 David Howell, Anton Haig (SA), Pablo Larrazabal (Spa)

0810 Taco Remkes (Ned), Shiv Kapur (Ind), Magnus A Carlsson (Swe)

0820 Lee Slattery, Gary Murphy, Bradley Dredge

0830 Miles Tunnicliff, David Lynn, Simon Wakefield

0840 Jason McCreadie, Oliver Fisher, Marcel Siem (Ger)

0850 Brett Rumford (Aus), Gregory Bourdy (Fra), Chapchai Nirat (Tha)

0900 John Bickerton, Pablo Martin (Spa), Gregory Havret (Fra)

0910 Marc Warren, Richard Sterne (SA), Per-Ulrik Johansson (Swe)

0920 Rafael Echenique (Arg), Benn Barham, Ross McGowan

0930 Phillip Archer, Andrew McLardy (SA), Pelle Edberg (Swe)

1230 Robert Rock, Brian Gay (USA), Peter Hanson (Swe)

1240 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Soren Hansen (Den), Alastair Forsyth

1250 Angel Cabrera (Arg), Graeme McDowell, Ross Fisher

1300 Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy

1310 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa), Soren Kjeldsen (Den)

1320 Stuart Appleby (Aus), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), David Drysdale

1330 Rory Sabbatini (SA), Prayad Marksaeng (Tha), James Kingston (SA)

1340 Thomas Levet (Fra), Jeppe Huldahl (Den), Niclas Fasth (Swe)

1350 Richard Green (Aus), Scott Strange (Aus), Boo Weekley (USA)

1400 Azuma Yano (Jpn), Jarmo Sandelin (Swe), Nick Ludwell

1410 Martin Laird, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra), Gary Lockerbie

1420 Christopher Doak, Metteo Manassero (Ita), Mark Foster

1430 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Francesco Molinari (Ita), Stephen Gallacher

Starting at hole 10

0730 Robert Allenby (Aus), Nick Watney (USA), Sandy Lyle

0740 Alvaro Quiros (Spa), Adam Scott (Aus), Darren Clarke

0750 Colin Montgomerie, Nick Dougherty, Ernie Els (SA)

0800 Paul Lawrie, Martin Kaymer (Ger), Camilo Villegas (Col)

0810 Geoff Ogilvy (Aus), Oliver Wilson, Retief Goosen (SA)

0820 Nick Faldo, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Louis Oosthuizen (SA)

0830 Anders Hansen (Den), Tim Clark (SA), John Daly (USA)

0840 Michael Hoey, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), Thomas Bjorn (Den)

0850 Steve Webster, Barry Lane, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)

0900 Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den), Charl Schwartzel (SA), Christian Nilsson (Swe)

0910 Andres Romero (Arg), Mark Brown (Nzl), Johan Edfors (Swe)

0920 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), Paul Broadhurst, Michael Jonzon (Swe)

0930 Robert Dinwiddie, Simon Khan, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus)

1230 Graeme Storm, Tano Goya (Arg), Gareth Maybin

1240 Shane Lowry, Peter Lawrie, Mikko Ilonen (Fin)

1250 Anthony Wall, Daniel Vancsik (Arg), David Dixon

1300 Scott Drummond, Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Raphael Jacquelin (Fra)

1310 Wallace Booth, Phillip Price, Paul Waring

1320 Kenneth Ferrie, Wen-chong Liang (Chn), Richard Finch

1330 Hennie Otto (SA), Danny Willett, Anthony Kang (USA)

1340 Stephen Dodd, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Felipe Aguilar (Chi)

1350 Thomas Aiken (SA), Callum Macaulay, David Horsey

1400 Sam Little, Simon Dyson, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg)

1410 Markus Brier (Aut), Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra), Damien McGrane

1420 Alexander Noren (Swe), Alvaro Velasco (Spa), Jyoti Randhawa (Ind)

1430 Ignacio Garrido (Spa), Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Martin Erlandsson (Swe)