Popert, who has cerebral palsy, finished runner-up to Lawlor over the same course last year.

“Four under par is super shooting from Kipp,” said Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome that is characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs.

“But I feel like I have that [score] in me. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

England’s Thomas Blizzard, who has autism, finished round one inside the top-10 after a 76 – one day after sitting an A-Level exam.

Daphne van Houten from the Netherlands, the leading women’s player in the field, struck the opening tee shot on her way to an 82.

The Championship – held in partnership between the DP World Tour and The R&A and supported by EDGA (formally the European Disabled Golf Association) – features 80 men and women, aged 15-68, playing in nine sport classes across multiple impairment groups.

An overall champion will be crowned, as well as an opposite sex winner, with a gross prize in each of the sport classes which cover various categories in standing, intellectual, visual and sitting.