Clarke is in the lead at Scottish Open

LUSS, Scotland, July 8 (UPI) -- Darren Clarke's bogey-free, 6-under-par 65 Thursday was worth the first-round lead at the European Tour's Barclays Scottish Open.

Clarke had four birdies on the front side and two more on his second nine in building a 1-stroke lead over Damien McGrane, Edoardo Molinari and Graeme Storm. Another seven golfers, including John Daly, are tied for fifth at 4-under 67 at the Loch Lomond Golf Club.

Clarke opened with two pars and then had birdies on Nos. 3, 5, 7 and 9. The birdie at the ninth hole was set up with an approach shot that stopped 10 feet from the hole.

He posted back-to-back birdies at Nos. 13 and 14 -- dropping a 5-footer for a birdie at 14 -- to grab the outright lead.

"Obviously I played nicely all day," said Clarke. "I gave myself lots of chances. As you can see from the scoring, it was pretty tough out there. All in all, very pleased with it."

Molinari's round featured an eagle and five birdies but he also had two bogeys while Storm carded six birdies and a bogey. McGrane fought into contention with birdies on three of his last four holes.