Tommy Fleetwood and amateur Christo Lamprecht set early pace at The Open

Tommy Fleetwood and debutant Christo Lamprecht are the early pace-setters after on Day 1 of The Open at Royal Liverpool on Friday.

South African amateur Lamprecht looked as cool as a cucumber around the sunny links course with seven birdies and only a couple of dropped shots in a five-under round of 66.

Backed by a partisan home crowd, Fleetwood then matched Lamprecht's feat to become joint clubhouse leader – raising hopes of a first English winner since Nick Faldo lifted the Claret Jug at Muirfield in 1992.

Former champion Stewart Cink, who denied 59-year-old Tom Watson a fairy-tale victory at Turnberry in 2009, rolled back the years himself with a flawless 68 matched by US Open champion Wyndham Clark, with Jordan Spieth and club member Matthew Jordan going round in 69.

Aided by playing alongside mentor Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 winner, 6ft 8in tall Lamprecht carded the lowest round by an amateur in any major since England’s Tom Lewis shot 65 at Royal St George’s in 2011.

“I’d probably say the first tee shot was the only bit of nerves I had all day,” the 22-year-old said.

“I just kind of walked off the first tee box after hitting my snap hook drive, and my caddie just told me, ‘listen, you’re playing The Open as an amateur, no need to stress’. We kind of had fun from there.

An opening 66 for amateur Christo Lamprecht, including a chip-in at 14