Local hero Tommy Fleetwood, Christo Lamprecht of South Africa and Emiliano Grillo of Argentina shot a five-under-par 66 to begin the 151st edition of the prestigious major.

On his Open debut Lamprecht showed class, producing one of the shorts of the round to put himself in the driving seat before Fleetwood and Grillo joined him.

"It was very cool, and I think you can't ask for more from the fans and the support. They were so great to me today," said home star Fleetwood.

"It’s such a special opportunity to play so close to home, to have that support and play an Open.

"I’m glad I gave them some good golf to watch.

"For any tournament, you just want to get off to a fast start.

"It's not really been my strength recently. I’ve started tournaments pretty slow, so to get something going today felt really good.

"As first rounds go, that's absolutely the one you wanted, and to get off to a good start feels good.”

It was a day of threes at Hoylake as Antoine Rozner of France, Adrián Otaegui of Spain and Brian Harman of the United States tied for fourth.

Meanwhile, 2014 champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland did not have the best of starts but managed to finish decently, posting an even par 71.

With a one-over par, defending champion Cameron Smith of Australia managed to stay in contention.

World number one Scottie Scheffler of the United States tied 19th with a one-under.