( CNN ) -- Francesco Molinari shot the lowest round ever at Castle Stuart in Inverness to lead after the first day of the Scottish Open on 10-under 62 . Defending champion , and world number one , Luke Donald carded a five-under-par 67 to trail the Italian by five shots Thursday . Molinari is continuing his great form from the French Open , where he finished second , to put himself amongst the contenders for next week 's British Open as well as cementing his place in the Ryder Cup team . On his recent form , the Italian admitted , `` I know it 's not going to last forever , but I hope to keep this going a little bit longer -- obviously next week , but the next month or so is really big for the Ryder Cup . That , probably more than the Open , is in my mind . '' Molinari shot 10 birdies as he stormed into the lead and he later dedicated the performance to his brother , Edoardo . The older Molinari recently had wrist surgery and is likely to miss the entire summer . Francesco said afterwards , `` It would be nice to do well this week for him as well -- to cheer him up a little bit . '' Englishman Luke Donald was making his first appearance since his U.S. Open disaster , when he missed the cut after finishing 11 over from 36 holes . Donald told AFP : `` Overall , it 's a pretty satisfying start after being away from the game for three weeks so to come back and find some form pretty early on is encouraging . '' Like the Italian leader , American Phil Mickelson will have an eye on September 's Ryder Cup , but endured a round to forget on the links course . The big American has left his family on holiday in Italy to get some more playing time ahead of Royal Lytham , but his 73 left him 11 shots behind Molinari . Last year 's British Open runner-up started well with two birdies in his first three holes . However , the 42-year-old went on to hit three bogeys and managed a seven on the 12th . Spaniard Alejandro Canizares had a day to remember after hitting birdies on the final six holes to finish two off the lead . Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark and Raphael Jacquelin were a further shot behind .
Francesco Beck breaks Castle Stuart course record . No.1 Luke Donald makes return after his Open woes . Phil Mickelson begins to find his game . Argentine Alejandro Canizares leads the lead pack .