The West Australian leads the Aussie charge and started his day strong, continuing on from his promising week at last week’s Scottish Open, where he finished in second behind South Korea’s Tom Kim.

The 27-year-old struck the ball well and oozed confidence around the front nine, playing with the inform Ben Griffin and former Masters champion, Hideki Matsuyama. Lee mixed in two birdies with a lone bogey on the par-3 4th.

On the back side, fans got to see more of Lee’s recovery game; the red numbers weren’t coming, and he put himself in some tricky positions and had to fight hard for his pars.

No more so on the par-4 14th hole, where his tee shot bounded into one of the pot bunkers flanking the fairway. Left with minimal options, Lee opted to advance his ball as far down the fairway as possible.

He was left with a tricky wedge in, made a good swing and left himself 12 feet for his par. Lee crucially rolled it in much to the enjoyment of the galleries. It was an important par, since the turn the PGA Tour winner had been wrestling with Royal Birkdale, trying to gain some momentum back and keep a run of five consecutive pars going.

Lee opted for plenty of irons off tees during his Thursday round, feeling it was the best way to tackle a crispy Open Championship layout, he also added there is room to be flexible depending on what is in front of you.

“You can hit a few drivers,” Lee told Golf Australia magazine.

“Ben [Griffin] hit a few more drivers…

“It paid off a couple times, so it's just one of those where [it’s about] how comfortable you feel.

“You're definitely flexible.

“You can't just be too stubborn about one thing.

“There were a few holes out there that the wind was switching, and we didn't really know if it was like a northeast.

“So that's a pretty big change within a few holes,” He added.

The atmosphere has been electric at Birkdale all week. Making the 10-minute walk from the train station at Hillside to Royal Birkdale has been a hive of anticipation, strolling through the gates and finding a spot to watch the tournament get underway, even more so.

A frustrating day on the greens for Jason Day. PHOTO: Getty Images.

It isn’t just the punter that gets those feelings, even though he is well established in his major championship career. Lee admits it feels different when you get to the biggest events of the season.

“We're playing at a major and Open, it feels like a major,” he says.

“You're playing at 9 o'clock, and the whole fairway is full, and the first hole is a coliseum.”

After a gruelling and hot five-and-a-half-hour round, the post-round doesn’t look too different to a regular tournament day for Lee as he begins his preparation for his Friday tee time.

“Obviously, you need to chill. I'll go to the gym and lift some weights. But yeah, just a normal week.”

Shortly after Lee parted ways with the Australian media cohort, Jason Day arrived after a disappointing three-over-par start to his Open Championship campaign. The Queenslander said the body felt okay, but he needed to get to the practice green to address concerns about his putting.

“I feel pretty happy with where the body is moving to, I just got to keep working on it,” Day told GA.

“I'm going to go and do some putting now, actually.

“I need to practice my putting because it was really poor today.”

The rest of the Australians have had a tricky day out, with Lee and Lucas Herbert the clear front-runners at even par for the tournament. Travis Smyth is a shot further adrift, and Adam Scott bogeyed the last to sign for two-over. Cam Smith returned a three-over 73 to sit alongside Day. Cameron John could well finish the day as the top Aussie if he doesn’t run out of daylight. The Victorian is even par through 13 holes on his major championship debut.