World News Conditions help Thomas hit 62 to lead Scottish Open Blog

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Justin Thomas hit eight birdies and took the lead with a 62 in the first round of the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick.

Thomas is one stroke ahead of South Korean Sungjae Im and one stroke ahead of five players who are tied at six under par: Swede Ludvig Aberg, American Justin Lower, German Maximillian Kieffer, Chinese Haotong Li and Belgian Thomas Detry.

Adam Scott and Min-Woo Lee are five strokes behind the leader and tied for 34th place. Cam David and Jason Scrivener are one stroke behind at two under par.

“A good start is always good, and a great start is even better,” Thomas said of his bogey-free round. “I felt like I had everything under control. When I missed the ball, I missed it in the right places and had a lot of really good shots.”

Aberg finished fourth or better for the third time in his last four starts.

His approach shot on the eighth would have landed less than 15 feet from the hole had it not landed directly on Morikawa’s resting ball, sending them both flying in opposite directions further from the hole. Instead of a birdie putt, Aberg ended up with a unique bogey. Morikawa converted his putt for a birdie on the par 4.

“You can’t really see the bottom of the flag from the fairway. So I didn’t see it,” Aberg said. “I thought I hit a decent shot, but we saw the ball just fly straight to the side. And I didn’t really know what it was doing, but then we kind of realized that Collins’ ball was about there, and then I saw his ball go that way. So it’s just one of those shots — I’ve never seen it before. I probably won’t see it again for a long time.”

Thomas achieved his best first-round result since 2017 in ideal playing conditions: 58 degrees, dry and moderate wind speeds.

“Weather and conditions-wise, a links golf course is easier than ever. If you hit well, as I did for the most part today, you have a lot of short clubs and I don’t see anything except the pin,” Thomas said.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Briton Tommy Fleetwood and American Morikawa are among the 15 players tied for eighth place at five under par.

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