Ballesteros claims early lead

A smiling Seve Ballesteros opened up a slender advantage on day one of The Open For The Ages, but Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus were close behind the charismatic Spaniard.

Ballesteros converted lengthy birdie putts on the 16th and 18th holes to complete a six-under 66 in the first round of this innovative event, which is using real archive footage from past Championships at St Andrews to create an exclusive celebratory edition of The Open.

Highlights of the opening three rounds - together with a summary of the best action - will be available to view on TheOpen.com for the next three days, before The Open For The Ages, in association with HSBC, culminates in a three-hour final-round broadcast from 11am BST on Sunday.

Ballesteros, the Champion Golfer of the Year at the Old Course in 1984, had a wide grin on his face as he received prolonged applause after finishing his day in style with a three at the last.

Woods and Nicklaus, who boast six Open wins - including four at St Andrews - and 33 majors between them, each began with rounds of 67 to trail the leader by a single shot.

The approach play of Woods was particularly superb as he made an excellent start, picking up four shots on the front nine.

Other highlights on a breezy first day included an eagle from Ian Baker-Finch on the par-5 fifth, which helped the Australian sit three off the pace at three under.

Baker-Finch was joined on that score by Tony Jacklin, who produced a moment of magic at the final hole with a textbook links shot, a chip-and-run approach that left a tap-in for birdie.

Darren Clarke caught the eye with a mammoth birdie putt on the 13th, while the likes of Francesco Molinari, Sergio Garcia and Shane Lowry also shone on the greens.

The winner of The Open For The Ages has been determined by a fan vote, which registered more than 10,000 responses, and a data model developed in partnership with NTT DATA that utilises this fan vote along with player career statistics and historical data from The Open to calculate the Champion.

The Open For The Ages is in association with HSBC.