Former champion Shane Lowry and surprise packet Dan Brown have delivered a brilliant late-evening show to warm up the Royal Troon galleries on a windy, squally opening day as they grabbed the early honours at the 152nd British Open.
The ever-popular, bearded Irishman Lowry completed a bogey-free 66 near the conclusion of a long, testing Thursday, only for major debutant Brown, at 9.33pm in the Scottish gloom, to eclipse him with one final birdie at the last to complete another flawless, six-under par round of 65.
It was a dramatic day that may well have already sunk the hopes of other big names like Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy and US Open champ Bryson DeChambeau.
Double PGA champion Justin Thomas had grasped the early initiative as the Ayrshire links bared its teeth, and it looked for much of the day as if the American's roller-coaster, three-under 68 could prove enough to be the first-day benchmark.
But as the winds, which had reached 30kph at some points, began to subside into the evening, it was the 2019 Royal Portrush champ Lowry who made a dramatic move ahead of Brown, a second-year tour pro who was in the day's penultimate group.
"It was enjoyable," reckoned the beaming Lowry.
"I try not to think about 2019 too much now. I holed a putt to go into the lead and I thought, 'It's the first time I've led The Open in five years!'.
His lead didn't last long, though, as Brown, a 29-year-old Yorkshireman with one European tour win to his name, could hardly believe his major debut, holing from nearly 35ft at the 10th and from 42ft the following hole.
"Amazing, isn't it?" he beamed. "I was nervous on the first tee, obviously it being my first major, but I hit a few nice shots early, so I kind of got settled into the round pretty quick."
There were echoes of 2019 as McIlroy, who had been an emotional favourite at Portrush but crashed after an opening 79, this time began with a seven-over 78, marked by his failure to deliver on the 'Postage Stamp' eighth hole when his attempt to escape the Coffin bunker rolled back deathlessly to his feet.
McIlroy is not the only big name in trouble. DeChambeau shot a 76, though his 55ft eagle on the 16th could yet be crucial, while Australia's 2022 champion Cam Smith made 80 and Tiger Woods a tired-looking 79.
Third-placed Thomas is a shot ahead of a seven-way logjam for fourth, featuring PGA champion Xander Schauffele, his US compatriot Russell Henley, Sweden's Alex Noren, Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard, Britain's former US Open champ Justin Rose, Canada's Mackenzie Hughes and England's Joe Dean, all on 69.
Ultimately, there were only 17 scores in the red by the end of the day, so Australia's evergreen veteran Adam Scott was also in a good spot, with a splash-in birdie from the greenside bunker at the first proving the launch pad for his one-under 70.
DeChambeau had such a calamitous first nine he reckoned he could easily have walked away halfway through his round.
"I'm just proud of the way I persevered today. Shoot, man, I could have thrown in the towel after nine and could have been like, 'I'm going home'," he said.
In the afternoon wave, Schauffele, world No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka (both one under) all flexed their muscles to remain firmly in the picture, but reigning champion Brian Harman had to settle earlier for a two-over 73.
