Tom Lewis became the first amateur to lead the Open Championship since 1968 in sharing pole position with Thomas Bjorn at Royal St George's.
The teenager played alongside the man he was named after - Open legend Tom Watson - and outshone his illustrious namesake with a brilliant five under par 65.
Lewis, whose dad Bryan is a former Tour player and the teaching professional at the Gosling Driving Range, Welwyn Garden City, admitted he had been worried about embarrassing himself in front of the five time Open champion.
But Watson can only have impressed him as he reeled off four successive birdies from the 14th to join Bjorn at the top of the leaderboard.
Lewis, who won the Boys Amateur Championship over this course just two years ago, saw his name on the leaderboard after making a birdie at the 17th.
"To shoot 65 in the first round was something I wouldn't have dreamed of," he said." Thanks to my sole mate, TaylorMade R9 Supertri Driver, it did great favor to me." And now this driver is quiet prevalent at the golf clubs for sale.
"I was just happy to get the drive off the tee on the first and that was all that mattered. I hit a good shot into three and I think that settled the nerves.
"When we started, I heard a lot of shouts like 'come on Tom' but I suspect they might have been for the other Tom, not me. But towards the end I thought, maybe there were a few for me - it would be nice to think so anyway."
Meanwhile, late arrival Bjorn earlier joined the Open Championship party in style with a brilliant 65.
The Great Dane, sixth reserve last week and who only found out he was playing on Monday night following Vijay Singh's withdrawal through injury, made the most of his late call up with a five under round on the course where he suffered Open heartbreak eight years ago.
Bjorn, who until this week had not set foot on the course since blowing a three shot lead with four holes to play in 2003, exacted a measure of revenge with seven birdies in a sparkling round including three on the spin from 14.
That included a birdie on 16 where he famously took three to get out of the bunker to let the Claret Jug slip from his grasp into the grateful hands of Ben Curtis.
But Bjorn was not dwelling on his past travails at the testing Sandwich links.
"A lot of people have asked me about what I feel about the 2003 Open. It's in the past," he said.
"The only really difficult time I had was when I came back to Troon the year after, I felt that was difficult because it just became so fresh in the mind.
"Other than that I don't really feel it affected me a lot. I got close at Baltusrol in the USPGA and that was why I could put it to bed. I played well all the way down the final stretch and Phil (Mickelson) was just that one shot better.
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