Felipe Aguilar and Scott Hend defied strong winds on day one of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open to take a share of the lead at Castle Stuart, where links specialists Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell were among those lurking one shot back.
On an extremely tough scoring day at the Inverness venue, Chilean Aguilar and Australian Hend set the target courtesy of three under par rounds of 69, but a bunched field is lining up behind them with Harrington and McDowell joined in a share of third place by fellow Major Champion YE Yang.
Multiple European Tour winners Alex Noren of Sweden and Englishman Andy Sullivan are also part of that chasing pack on two under par, whilst Luke Donald – who won at this venue in 2011 – is one of ten players on one under par.
Craig Lee, the leading Scot, is another one of those two shots off the pace while home favourite Russell Knox, who grew up in Inverness, is a shot further back on level par.
Phil Mickelson struggled in a round of 76, but with the wind set to die down on day two the five-time Major Champion will be hoping to take advantage of the more benign conditions and climb into contention to claim a second victory at Castle Stuart.
Felipe Aguilar
“I’m quite happy. It was very difficult golf today, really windy after the second hole. You have to be really patient out here, but this is just the first day. The course is playing really difficult.
“You have some holes that you can actually reach the green in one, but if you miss it on the wrong side, it’s not very easy to make an up-and-down from there.
“But I played, we can say easily today. We didn’t make too many mistakes, except for two bogeys on the ninth and 18th, but you’re going to make some bogeys out here. You have to make sure you make some birdies too.”
Scott Hend
“I’m very happy. Obviously conditions were quite tough and was a little bit scrappy with some putts not quite getting to the hole but overall I’m very happy.
“We’re just not so used to playing off such tight lies and playing into a strong wind. So I was trying to get back to adjusting for the spin rate off those lies into the wind. It’s just something we haven’t been used to for a while.”
“It’s awesome fun, it doesn’t matter how hard it is. When you play links golf, it’s just awesome. I love it. It beats your head in, kicks you around, and sometimes you get it back. It’s just great fun. It’s exciting.”
Graeme McDowell
“I’m pretty happy with that. It was a bit of a battle out there at times. Wind strength certainly increased as the day went on, holes like 18 here are very, very exposed and even the downwind holes are tough.
“It’s very tough to get the ball close to the hole, you’re doing a lot of long-range putting and the greens are slow. Because of the wind strength conditions, you have to keep a bit of grass on them.
“It is tough to get your speed out there. But the surfaces are very pure and you do feel like you can make some when you get a chance.”
Padraig Harrington
“I played nicely. I wish I played every tournament round of golf in these sort of conditions. It was tough. It required your attention out there.
“But it seemed very playable in the sense of the golf course is designed to play in – there are openings in the front of every green. There wasn’t any hidden pin position. It was all there in front of you, and certainly I would enjoy that challenge every day of my tournament life.
“It was a good day to play well on and to get ahead of the game. Most of the day I was doing nicely. I think a lot of times, on a tough day like this, if you get a poor start, you can’t see how you’re going to get it back.”
Andy Sullivan
“I’m just extremely happy with anything under par today. It’s a fantastic score. I played really well again today but out there with the wind, we’re giving it sort of a couple balls outside right and with the wind it was almost four. It’s tough out there, making calculated decision how much the wind is going to blow.”
Russell Knox
“Today was extremely difficult. I haven’t played in too many tougher rounds to be honest. So I’m happy with my round. I think it was fair, I just didn’t play great. I kept it in play for the most part. I think even par was pretty good.
“The atmosphere was amazing. A lot of old friends and people I’ve known for a lot of years showed up, which was great. Hopefully that will continue for three more days.”
