Little & Cabrera top opening day leaderboard

One of the best rounds of his career was enough to give Stuart Little a share of the lead Thursday in the Scottish Open, but not enough to start thinking about St. Andrews.

Little twice had stretches of three straight birdies on a calm day at Loch Lomond for a 7-under 64, his lowest score in relation to par in his nine years on the European Tour. It left him atop the leaderboard with Angel Cabrera, one shot ahead of former Open champion Paul Lawrie, Lee Westwood and Richard Sterne.

"It's nice to be there, but I think as you're all aware, it's a long road ahead the next three days," Little said.

It would be tempting for Little to look ahead.

The top finisher at Loch Lomond gets an exemption to the British Open next week, and Little must have figured his chances were over two weeks ago when he was delayed leaving France, got only three hours' sleep and played so poorly in the qualifier than he withdrew after 18 holes.

Little has only played in one British Open -- at St. Andrews in 2000, when he missed the cut. Even so, he realized a good start was just that, and he refused to consider the possibilities.

"To be perfectly honest, no," he said when asked if he was thinking about the Open. "It's a tall order, one spot. Just carry on the form today, then it's highly possible."

Cabrera, hopeful of joining fellow Argentine Eduardo Romero as a Loch Lomond winner, birdied three of his last four holes for a 64 to get into the mix for the first time since winning the BMW Championship two months ago.

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman, who has won at Loch Lomond, overcame a slight injury to his left thumb to post a 66, while former Masters champion Phil Mickelson opened with a 67, along with Darren Clarke.

Colin Montgomerie ran off three straight birdies, but nearly hit into a hazard on the 18th and settled for a 68.

Ernie Els wound up in the middle of the pack. Playing for the first time since the U.S. Open, Els surprised many by showing up at Loch Lomond -- he had planned to take a three-week break before St. Andrews -- and swapped birdies with bogeys until making a short putt on his last hole for a 70.

Retief Goosen recovered from a 40 on his outward nine with flawless golf to salvage an even-par 71.

Little's best round until Thursday came 13 years ago at the European Monte Carlo Open, when he shot a 6-under 63.

"I hit the right shots," he said. "I think the key things for me today was composure."

Cabrera was close with his irons, hitting a 5-iron into 3 feet on the tough par-3 17th, then finishing his round with a wedge that stopped 3 feet behind the hole on the ninth.

"I can't understand why I haven't done better here," Cabrera said. "I don't think I've ever been in the top 10 before. It seems that my friend Romero is the Argentine player who knows how to play this course. I would love to be able to win, also."

Westwood also finished strong with two birdies for his 66, both times hitting into 5 feet to wrap up a round he didn't see coming. After a tough week at the European Open in Ireland, he stuck around for the Irish pro-am that featured Els, Tiger Woods and others.

"It would be something like 12 consecutive days of golf going into the Open, which is not ideal," Westwood said. "I just went out there and tried to just relax and not take it too seriously."

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