He still managed to par the hole and later closed out the round with his sixth birdie of the day to finish with a five under 67. He heads into the second round three strokes behind American Cameron Young (64) and a single shot arrears of tournament favourite Rory McIlroy (66).

Having signed his scorecard, Smith, the World No.6, was quick to dismiss any concerns about his knee.

"I'm fine now but it just felt like I got a little bit of a hyper extension in the back of my knee," the 28-year-old said.

"It lasted a couple of holes but I'm a Queensland man – I'll get over that pretty quick.

"Just a little niggly for 10 minutes and it went away.”

Smith reached the turn three under after birdies at the 2nd, 5th and 7th holes before adding a fourth at the short par-4 10th. His tee shot at the par-3 11th overshot the green and, despite his impeccable short game, he was unable to get up-and-down successfully for his par.

Smith's troublesome driving in recent months wasn't evident in the first round. PHOTO: Getty Images.

A booming 369-yard drive on the par-4 12th finished beyond the putting surface but, this time, he chipped and putted for birdie to move back to four under.

The bogey at 11 would prove to be the only blemish in Smith’s best opening round in five Open appearances.

“I think it's nice to get off to a hot start any week,” Smith said. “But these majors, I think the tougher the course gets, especially around here, how it's going to get really firm and really fast, it's almost going to be like holding on I think on the weekend.

“Nice to get out there and shoot a number and get myself well under par.”

Smith said the more he plays links like the Old Course, the comfortable he gets.

“I think maybe at the start of my professional career I was trying to play too much of the right shot rather than just sticking to kind of what I know,” he said.

“I feel like I'm hitting more similar shots to what I would in the U.S, whereas before I thought the need to try and hit it low because that's what everyone said you had to do. And I think with the humps and hollows, it comes quite unpredictable, and just something that I've learned over the years.

“Yeah, it hasn't been too nice to me so far.”

He is the best placed of the 11-strong Australian contingent looking to break a 29-year win drought at The Open.

Brad Kennedy made eight birdies in his four under 68. PHOTO: Getty Images.

Fellow Queenslander Brad Kennedy signed for a four under 68 and is tied fourth with seven other players, including World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and former Masters Champion Dustin Johnson.

Th 48-year-old, who qualified with a third-place finish in the Mizuno Open on the Japanese Tour in May, made eight birdies but dropped four shots between the 8th and 13th holes.

West Australian Min Woo Lee overcame a disastrous double bogey on the 3rd hole to be five under for the remaining 15 holes and signed for a 69, which included four birdies and an eagle.

Lee, who was out in the first group of the championship, showed his intentions are clear by playing aggressively on most holes. His eagle on the par-5 14th came on the back of a 354-yard drive, a 258-yard 6-iron and a 40-foot putt from behind the flag.

“It was a great recovery, great recovery,” Lee confessed. “The one thing I wasn't, haven't been good at is bouncing back from bad shots.

“So amazing 9-iron into the next hole (after the double bogey) and made a birdie there and kind of kicked off the round. It wasn't nerves or anything, just a bad drive to make a double.”

MIn Woo Lee makes a good strike en route to a closing birdie and a 69. PHOTO: Getty Images

Lucas Herbert is currently T27 after a grinding two under 70 that included nine consecutive pars from the turn.

Adam Scott got his Open campaign off to a terrible start with two bogies and a double bogey in his first six holes. But he fought back well to get back to even par with three birdies around the turn and a closing two-putt birdie to be T57.

Adam Scott bounced back from a terrible start. PHOTO: Getty Images.

West Australian Jason Scrivener offset three bogies with three birdies in his even par 72 to also be T57.

The remaining Aussies will need to go low to ensure a start at the weekend.

Anthony Quayle (74), Matt Griffin (74), Marc Leishman (76), Dimi Papadatos (77) and Australian PGA champion, Jediah Morgan (79) are all currently outside the top-100 on the leaderboard.