Fleetwood, Grillo, amateur Lamprecht share lead after Round 1 at The Open

A towering figure, a local favorite, and an Argentine share the lead after the first round of The Open at Royal Liverpool.

It was 6-foot-8 amateur Christo Lamprecht who set the early pace with an impressive round of 66 on Thursday morning, only to be matched by Southport's Tommy Fleetwood roughly 30 minutes later. Emiliano Grillo joined that pair in the afternoon with a 51-foot birdie on the final hole to reach 5-under on his round.

Antoine Rozner, Adrian Otaegui, and Brian Harman sit one shot off the pace at 4-under with a group including Max Homa, U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark, and 50-year-old Stewart Cink two back.

Lamprecht was the shock of the day, with the Georgia Tech star only qualifying for The Open in June due to his win at The Amateur at Hillside. He scattered seven birdies to cancel out two bogeys on his 18 holes, highlighted by a brilliant chip-in at No. 14.

"I'm very hard on myself, and I think I earned my spot to be here. I think the way I played today, I earned (the right) to be on the top of the leaderboard, as of now," Lamprecht said after his round, per ASAP Sports. "It's not a cocky thing to say. … If you're a professional or a competitor, you should be believing that you should be the best standing there."

Fleetwood had a throng of fans following him from the start thanks to his local roots. The 32-year-old grew up just 30 miles from Royal Liverpool and is looking to become the first player from England to win The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992.

"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," Fleetwood said.

He added: "Such a special opportunity to play so close to home. … Glad I gave them some good golf to watch. So, so cool for me to step out on the golf course and (get) that kind of support."

Hopes for a Fleetwood win can be buoyed by the fact he usually struggles in the opening rounds of majors before catching fire.

Grillo finds himself in a tie for first thanks to an epic 51-foot birdie putt on the final hole to reach 5-under. Playing the more difficult afternoon wave, the Argentine actually started with two bogeys in his first three holes before shooting 7-under over his last 15 holes.

There are 46 players within five shots of the lead at even or better - an important number considering each of the last 20 Open winners and 50 of the last 52 have been at that spot after the first round.

There's plenty of firepower on that list, including Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Hideki Matsuyama, and Rory McIlroy.