An was inches from an ace at the 14th and tapped in for one of four successive birdies during his front nine.

He took the outright lead on the par-five third after chipping to three feet and carded nine birdies in a blemish-free round to equal the course record jointly held by Cameron Tringale and Bernd Wiesberger.

"I couldn't play any better," said the 31-year-old, who is still seeking a first PGA Tour win.

"I drove it well and hit it well and chipped it well and putted well. That's a clean scorecard. I felt very relaxed out there.

"I feel like I'm back home. This is the Tour I started my professional career. It's been great coming back and playing links golf."

Northern Ireland's McIlroy returned from a recent break, in which he "didn't touch a club for 10 days", by enjoying a profitable day with the putter to set the early clubhouse target alongside Detry.

McIlroy, another who started on the 10th, holed birdie putts from 20 and 40 feet as he surged to five under through his opening seven holes. An eagle on the third then repaired the damage of two bogeys and he added a further birdie.

"It's a really good start," said the world number three. "I've not had particularly great results around this course the last couple of times but I feel like my game is definitely in better shape now.

"I've got some really good feelings in my swing that I think are quite consistent and even if I do take a bit of time away I feel really comfortable getting back into it."

Belgium's Detry finished with successive birdies and was agonisingly close to winning a sponsors car for himself and his caddie with an ace on the 17th.

"It was inches away so I'm looking forward to seeing the highlights of that shot," said Detry.

"It's my playground here. I always play well. I have a lovely little cottage out here on the golf course. I'm staying here with my family and everybody is happy. I feel good."

Scheffler, who missed the cut here last year, was one over at the turn before reviving his fortunes by picking up three strokes on the way home.

Among the big names with plenty of catching up to do are Jordan Speith, who carded four bogeys in his 72, and US PGA Championship runner-up Viktor Hovland, who sits three over.

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