SANDWICH, England (AP) — Andy Sullivan was among the last to make the field at the British Open and part of the first group out when play began Thursday.

He’s not wasting any time at Royal St. George’s.

Part of a strong early showing by the English on home soil, Sullivan rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt at No. 1 after teeing off at 6:35 a.m. local time and closed with a birdie for a 3-under 67.

He was the early target and, in his word, “buzzing.”

“It’s probably the one event of the year where you actually don’t mind getting up early,” Sullivan said. “For other events, you sort of drag yourself out of bed. … Today actually wasn’t too bad.

“You’ve always got a buzz to come and play the Open.”

Sullivan found out he would be in the field only on Friday, while he was playing at the Scottish Open. He replaced Matthew Wolff, the 54-hole leader at the U.S. Open last year at Winged Foot, who chose not to play.

He had been way down the reserve list but, one by one, there were withdrawals for various reasons, some of them related to COVID-19.

“I didn’t know I was even close to being a reserve,” Sullivan said.

Now he could be leading the English charge to be the nation’s first Open champion since Nick Faldo at Muirfield in 1992. Not since Tony Jacklin in 1969 has an English player won the Open on home soil.

Alongside Sullivan on 3 under was Danny Willett, the 2016 Master champion. Another Englishman, Paul Casey, signed for a bogey-free 68 and was starting another major impressively after tying for seventh at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last month and tying for fourth at the PGA Championship in May.

Casey made 15 straight pars after making a 4-foot putt for birdie at No. 3.

The stand surrounding the first tee was almost full and the gallery to the right of the tee was three rows deep as Sullivan started his round with two more Englishmen in Marcus Armitage and Richard Bland, who had the honor of hitting the first shot.

“It was very special, very nerve-wracking,” said Bland, who shot 70 and is coming off a season where he finally won a title on the European Tour in the 478th tournament of his professional career.

“I was OK when I got onto the tee. A little bit nervous because you’re just about to start a major championship. But then once the announcer said, ‘Right, it’s 30 seconds guys,’ you’re like, this is it. This is what it’s all about.”