Lee Westwood on top at Scottish Open

Englishman Lee Westwood carded a flawless opening 62 to lead the 2020 Scottish Open - 22 years after he won the title at Loch Lomond.

Westwood carded two eagles in the space of five holes and added five birdies to finish nine under par at The Renaissance Club, a shot ahead of Sweden's Alexander Björk and Joost Luiten of the Netherlands.

Scotland's Scott Jamieson headed the 15-strong home challenge on seven under, with compatriot Craig Lee another stroke back alongside England’s Robert Rock and Finland's Kalle Samooja.

The early starters were faced with cold, damp and windy conditions, but Westwood was among the afternoon wave who acknowledged they had benefited from considerably calmer and warmer weather.

"I opened the curtains this morning and thought, ooh, that looks rough," the 47-year-old told the European Tour's official website after his best opening round since 2007.

"But that was the forecast, chilly and damp and then clearing up as the day went on.

"You’ve still got to make hay while the sun shines or the wind drops and I did that. You’ve got to be patient. If you’re not three or four under early you can start chasing and getting aggressive. You have to break it down and play the course on its merits.

"That’s how I’ve been playing for a few weeks, starting on the tee, trying to hit in the right place on the fairway. Playing the US Open taught me a lot. My game has been disciplined the last few weeks."

Collated first round scores in the European Tour Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 71):

62 - Lee Westwood

63 - Joost Luiten (NED), Alexander Bjork (SWE)

64 - Scott Jamieson

65 - Craig Lee, Robert Rock, Kalle Samooja (FIN)

66 - Marcus Kinhult (SWE), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Wade Ormsby (AUS), Min Woo Lee (AUS)

67 - Andy Sullivan, Ian Poulter

68 - Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA), Matthieu Pavon (FRA), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL), Joakim Lagergren (SWE), Mikko Korhonen (FIN), Matthew Southgate, Haotong Li (CHN), Sami Valimaki (FIN), Eddie Pepperell, Rasmus Hojgaard (DEN)