Amateur champion Christo Lamprecht outscored the professionals to set the clubhouse lead on his Open debut as 50-year-old 2009 champion Stewart Cink rolled back the years to put himself in contention.
The 22-year-old Lamprecht, a 6ft 8in South African who qualified by winning his title at Hillside just up the coast in Southport a month ago, posted an impressive five-under 66 to set the mark for some of the bigger names going out later in the day.
His round was the lowest opening 18 holes by an amateur in a major since England’s Tom Lewis shot 65 in 2011 at St George’s.
Cink, the man who denied five-time champion Tom Watson’s potential fairytale Open victory at the age of 59 at Turnberry 14 years ago, also found some form to follow him home on three under.
There was also a dream start for Royal Liverpool member Matthew Jordan, given the honour of hitting the first tee shot at 6.35am after coming through final qualifying at nearby West Lancashire, who carded a two-under 69.
Lamprecht reeled off three birdies in four holes from the third as he turned in 32 and picked up another shot at the 10th where he holed a 13-foot putt.
The big-hitting South African’s aggressive approach got the better of him at the 387-yard par-four 11th when his drive off the tee found the rough and ended in his first bogey of the day.
However, he chipped in from the front of the 14th and then also birdied the 602-yard par-five 15th to get to five under and, although he bogeyed the next, he was on in two at the par-five last and two-putted for his seventh birdie of the day.
Cink turned in 33 after birdies at the fifth and seventh and picked up a further shot at the 15th to finish bogey-free two strokes behind.
Two shots further back was Jordan, a member at Royal Liverpool since the age of seven, who found his feet after a nervy opening hole which required a 14ft par save.
Cheered on by a supportive crowd which included family, friends and fellow members of the DP World Tour, he birdied the second and then produced a brilliant three-wood approach to 10 feet from 256 yards at the par-five fifth, which just carried the greenside bunker to set up a two-putt birdie.
He turned at two under but after his second bogey of the day at the 11th, where he found himself up against the face of a bunker, he bounced back with a birdie at the 16th.
On his reception during his round, Jordan – who holds the course record of 62 – said: “Amazing. I’m kind of running out of words to describe it. It was crazy, mental, loud – everything that I could have wished for.
“I’m certainly trying to think of a better experience than that, and I don’t think I can.”
Southport’s Tommy Fleetwood got to two under through 11 holes with world number one Scottie Scheffler a shot further back.
The controversial new 17th hole claimed its first victim with Lucas Herbert, joint-leader at the time on three under, making a triple-bogey at the 126-yard hole.
He missed the green to the left, chipped across the putting surface into a bunker, left his next in the sand and eventually finished with a six.
Rozner takes halfway lead in Dubai, McIlroy and Hatton chasing
Antoine Rozner has the halfway lead at the DP World Tour Championship, one shot ahead of Rory McIlroy, after an impressive second round.
The Frenchman took advantage of McIlroy's mid-round slip-up and carded a round-of-the-day 65 to hold a lead of nine under on Friday.
McIlroy had surged into what looked like a comfortable lead with four birdies in the first seven holes in Dubai but bogeyed two of the next three as the chasing pack caught up with him once more.
The Northern Irishman, who needs to place 11th or higher to secure the Race to Dubai title, sits joint-second with Tyrrell Hatton, who had also shared the lead after round one.
"I got off to a great start, four under through seven. I was feeling like I was in total control of what I was doing, and then I just started to miss a few fairways around the turn," McIlroy said.
"When you start missing fairways the way the course is set up this week, you're going to start to struggle.
"So I made two bogeys in the next three holes, I steadied the ship a little bit, but felt like I let a couple of chances slip by on 14 and 15, but played the last three holes well.
"It was nice to finish with a birdie and at least shoot something in the sixties."
Joaquin Niemann sits two strokes back in fourth, while Shane Lowry and Rasmus Hojgaard are in the group tied for sixth on six under.
Meanwhile, Thriston Lawrence, who is the only player capable of snatching the season-long title from McIlroy if he wins in Dubai, is nine adrift of the leader, and currently tied-34th after carding a second-round 71 thanks to a bogey on the final hole.
McIlroy: I'd pay for the privilege of playing in Ryder Cup
Rory McIlroy says he would pay to play in the Ryder Cup in response to reports that each member of Team USA will receive $400,000 for competing in next year's edition.
The 35-year-old was one of several European golfers who believe financial reward is unnecessary to play in the competition.
The news of a $4.8m purse split between Team USA comes after Patrick Cantlay refused to wear the team cap at last year's Ryder Cup in Rome, in an apparent protest about not being paid to represent his country.
"I personally would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup," McIlroy told BBC Sport on Thursday.
"The two purest forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics, and it's partly because of that, the purity of no money being involved."
With record highs in prize money for professional golf now available in response to the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV tour, McIlroy does not think that the money is needed.
"I don't think any of the 24 players on either team needs that 400 grand," he said.
"Every two years, there are 104 weeks and 103 weeks you can play golf and get paid."
Cantlay was mocked for his decision not to wear his team's cap in Rome, with fans removing their headwear to mimic him.
While it led to McIlroy getting into a heated argument with Cantlay's caddie Joe LaCava at the time, he does see the other side of things.
"It was a discussion that was happening in Rome. I can see the other side of the argument because the Ryder Cup does create a lot of revenue," he added.
"It is one of the probably top five biggest sporting events in the world. So I get the argument that the talent should be or could be getting paid.
"But the Ryder Cup is so much more than that, especially to the Europeans and to this tour."
McIlroy boosts Race to Dubai hopes with early lead in DP World Tour Championship
Rory McIlroy made a dream start to the DP World Tour Championship, taking a share of the lead after the opening round in Dubai.
The Northern Irishman, a two-time winner at the event, holds a 1,758-point lead over Thriston Lawrence and needs to finish 11th or higher to guarantee top spot in the season-long standings for the third successive year.
He carded a five-under 67 in the first round, improving on his mixed results on the first nine to finish with six birdies and a lone bogey.
A brilliant long putt on the 17th topped off his impressive performance, giving him a share of the early advantage with Tyrrell Hatton, who held onto the lead by making par on the 18th.
Speaking to Sky Sports after his final round, McIlroy was asked if it bothered him that the media holds him to a higher standard during big events.
"Depends what day it is!" he said. "I think overall I have to take it as a compliment.
"It's a testament to the body of work that I've put in over the course of my 17 or 18-year career that I am held to such a high standard. And I want to live up to those standards too. It's not just everyone else. I fully expect to turn up to tournaments and have a chance to win every time. I'm under no illusions that I'm not going to win every time.
"But with how many chances I've given myself, especially this year, it feels like I probably should've won a couple of more times. But saying that, if I go on and have another three good days here and end the year with a win, I'll look back on 2024 pretty fondly.
"I thought I did well [on Thursday]. The golf course is playing a little bit tougher than it has done in previous years with how thick the rough is. I made some nice pars around the middle of the round when a couple of holes could have got away from me, and then I finished well with the birdies on 14 and 17."
Last week's Abu Dhabi Championship winner, Paul Waring, sits one shot back in third, while Billy Horschel and Adam Scott are among those to card a three-under 69.
Meanwhile, Lawrence, the only player who could catch McIlroy in the Race to Dubai, struggled on Thursday and sits six back after he finished one over on 73.
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