BY BRENDAN JAMES at ROYAL SYDNEY

Records, they say, are meant to be broken. And, in the back of his mind, Adam Scott knew a round like his opening salvo at the Emirates Australian Open was not far away.

The World No.2 began his pursuit of the Australian Triple Crown – wins in the PGA, Masters and Open in one season – began in record fashion with a ten under 62 to lead the championship by three strokes.

Teeing off on the 10th hole in front of a huge early morning gallery, Scott made six consecutive birdies. Eight straight pars followed as his birdie-streak stalled. He found his mojo again at the short par-3 6th when he stuffed his tee shot in close and converted for his seventh birdie of the day.

Adam Scott salutes the crowd after making another birdie, one of ten, during his opening round. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

The frustration of losing his momentum gained earlier in the round appeared gone with that birdie and he striped a drive down the par-5 7th, found the green with a 4-iron and two-putted for another birdie. Scott was wayward from the 8th tee but played a remarkable recovery shot that he duly took advantage with another one-putt. He then put the seal on his Royal Sydney course record by hitting a sand wedge to less than a metre from the hole at the par-4 9th hole.

His incredible score eclipsed the previous record of 65, set in 2008 by Mathew Goggin, Chris Gaunt, Stephen Dartnell, Ewan Porter and Jason Norris.

Scott’s 62 also equals the best 18-hole score in the 109-year history of the Australian Open. Gary Player established that mark, twice, in the 1965 championship at Adelaide’s Kooyonga course. Player, who was suffering gout, opened with a 62 – 11 under against a par of 73 – and repeated the amazing score again in the third round, which also included eagles at each of the first two holes. The South African finished with a 72-hole aggregate of 264, which remains to this day as the Australian Open record.

Scott smoothes his approach into the 18th green, his 9th hole, to set up a two-putt par. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

But for how long?

Scott said after his opening round that his wins at the PGA and Masters in recent weeks had him believing “a low number” was not far away and when he began with six straight birdies he knew today was that day.

“I came out hitting great shots and didn't have much work to do to clean them up the first five holes and then made a nice putt on my sixth hole and I was really rolling at that point,” Scott said.

“I think I've gone through a roller coaster of emotion out there today, from cruising after six holes to having to work pretty hard for the next six or seven holes just to make some pars and nothing much going my way and getting a bit frustrated, missing a green at about the 4th hole, feeling like my swing is leaving me again,” he laughed.

“And then to hit one good shot, on the par-3 6th, close and knock it in and then finish really strong … it's just incredible how in 18 holes you can do 360 degrees of emotion … mood swings and everything.

“It was a great start and a very nice little course record to have here at Royal Sydney.”

With his sixth birdie in as many holes to start the round, the Queenslander confessed his mind did turn toward the possibility of joining golf’s elite ’59 club’.

“ … 59 … well, yeah, I mean, I wasn't thinking about it hard, but I knew it was a possibility with having birdied the six holes I'd birdied, I felt like all the opportunities were still to come,” he said. “So if I kept it going and had a good run around the turn I thought it was on for sure, especially with the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th holes to finish.

“There's a lot of opportunities if things go your way, so it could have been on but like I said, for whatever reason I struggled for a few holes and then I wasn't giving myself many chances.

“Amazingly I holed so many four and five foot putts today, which is what you have to do to have a good score or to keep a score, but it's nice to see the bit of practice I've been doing with the putting is working.”

The 33-year-old said he was glad to finish his round with a run of birdies after such a hot start to his round.

“I had a great opportunity to have a really low round out here and didn't want to waste it,” he said. “It would have been a shame to come in and feel like I shot six under and was disappointed with that after the start.

“To finish strong was really important. I think it's just how much do you want it and how hard are you mentally going to put in on the course to kind of dig yourself out of hitting a few bad shots, and kind of throwing the toys out of the cot, or get yourself back on track and hit a good shot when you have to and get on with it.”

Scott did the latter and the crowds, who had started lining up at Royal Sydney’s front gates at 5.45am, loved it.

His approach into the 9th, his final hole of the round, drew a huge roar from the gallery, which was one of the biggest seen for an early tournament round since the 1980s and 90s when Greg Norman reigned as World No.1.

“It was a very nice reception (from the gallery) going to the green,” he said. “It had a little bit of a feeling like it was the last hole on Sunday. It was very nice to get that kind of reception walking up to the last hole of a Thursday.”

Scott has a history of shooting course record scores. Two years ago, he opened with a 62 before going on to win the Bridgestone Invitational. In 2008, he fired an 11-under-par 61 in the final round of the Qatar Masters to claim the title by three strokes from Henrik Stenson (what a match that would on current form). A year earlier he fired a 62 in the second round at Muirfield Village in the Memorial Tournament on a day when the next best score was 67. Ten years ago, he had a 62 in the second round of the Deutsche Bank Championship en route to winning that event – his first on the PGA Tour.

Where today’s 62 will sit in the scheme of things will depend a lot on whether he keeps his nose in front until Sunday evening.

“The 61 in Qatar was a pretty great round obviously, being a final round and going on to win with that score,” Scott said. “This being the first round, it's a very different feeling. But any time you shoot a number like 62 or 10 under, they're great rounds. It's very hard to separate one or the other. I still think the best round of golf I played was a 62 at Muirfield Village one year and it was the lowest score that day by five shots, and I think that kind of gives an indication of how good a round it is, but this is obviously a very good round of golf – or one of my best rounds of golf is probably what I should say.”

Record scores aside, Scott’s tilt at becoming the second player – after Robert Allenby in 2005 – to win the Triple Crown is off to the strongest possible start and he believes being the front runner is something he is more capable of handling now than when he was younger.

“I'm a much more complete player and some weeks I don't have to play my best stuff to be in with a chance,” the 2009 Australian Open Champion said. “You can be a few in front but not playing great and it's a little harder to just keep your foot on the gas because you might not have complete control over your swing or where the shots are starting.

“You want to be a good front runner, you want to be out there and when you're playing well you want to keep your foot on the gas. I had a few times in my career where I ran away and won by several shots. It's a good attribute to have, it's hard to do but it's a good attribute if you can do it.”

If there is any comfort the rest of the field can gain from this opening day it’s this: Scott believes he couldn’t have done any better and chances are he won’t go as low tomorrow.

“I don't think I could have shot any better,” he smiled. “I made every putt I should have made.  I just had five footers all day for par or for birdie and I made everything I had an opportunity to. I didn't leave anything out there. I was out of position a few times and I did well to get back in position and made those five footers.”

And tomorrow?

“Tomorrow's a whole different ballgame,” he added. “Backing up a low round is something that's hard to do and you don't often see guys go back to back low like that. So I'm going to have to come out tomorrow and try and get control of my game and mind again and just deal with the conditions as best I can.”

Playing partner Jason Day, who finished two under for the day, paid tribute to his World Cup winning team-mate saying it was a round he would remember for a long time.

“It's not too hard (to watch Scott) at all, you're just watching the show really,” he said. “That’s how the best players in the world play and I got to witness it today and it was special.

“That's something that I'm going to remember for a long time. I look forward to playing with him tomorrow and hopefully catching him.”

Canadian-born Ryan Yip leads the chasers after day 1. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES

Heading the chase after the first round is the little-known Canadian with the golf approproiate name, Ryan Yip, who shot a 65 and, on any other day, would have equalled the course record but finds himself three shots back.

“I played well, that’s all I can do,” Yip, who plays the OneAsia Tour, said. “I can’t control anyone else, so I’m just happy with how I played.

“He’s (Scott) No.2 in the world for a reason and he showed it today.”

Victorian David McKenzie, the reigning Victorian PGA Champion who won a car with a hole-in-one at the Perth International last month, had a bogey-free 66 and lies in the third place alone, one stroke ahead of three players – former course record holder Jason Norris, West Australian Jason Scrivener and two-time Australian Open champion, Aaron Baddeley.

It was 14 years ago to the day when Baddeley made world headlines as the teen amateur who upstaged Norman and Colin Montgomerie to win the Open here at Royal Sydney.

That must seem a long time ago for a man who has been in awful ball-striking form for the past two seasons and has managed to stay on Tour on the high standard of his putting alone.

He has been taking coaching guidance from former Tour player Grant Waite for less than a month but it seems the Kiwi has had an immediate and positive influence. Baddeley’s five under 67 follows on from his fifth placing at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last month.

One of the most impressive rounds of the day came very late from American John Young Kim. Playing in the final group off the 1st tee, Kim, ranked No.1,319 in the world, easily coped with the strengthening wind during the afternoon to card a flawless seven under 65. Having made the turn at two under, Kim rolled in birdies at 12, 13, 14, 16 and the tough par-3 17th to grab a share of second place with Yip.

Aaron Baddeley showed great improvement tee to green and is just five shots behind Scott. PHOTO: BRENDAN JAMES

In a month of Sundays, Scott has been there in red numbers at the top of the leaderboard every time. With 54 holes left in this championship (and some windy conditions forecast for tomorrow) it will be intriguing to see if Scott can keep his "foot on the gas" and claim Player’s Australian Open scoring record, the Triple Crown and his second Stonehaven Cup all in one afternoon.

AUSTRALIAN OPEN LEADERBOARD

1. Adam Scott (Qld)   62

T2. Ryan Yip (Can)   65

T2. John Young Kim (US)   65

4. David McKenzie (Vic)   66

T5. Jason Norris (Vic)   67

T5. Jason Scrivener (WA)   67

T5. Aaron Baddeley (Vic)   67

T5. Alistair Presnell (Vic)   67

* For full scoreboard and round 2 tee times go to www.australianopengolf.com.au