Mikko Ilonen credited a new set of irons after shooting to the top of the leaderboard at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.
The Finnish golfer, a five-time European Tour winner, birdied five of the opening six holes on his way to a flawless opening round of seven-under-par 65.
The 37-year-old is a surprise pacesetter having arrived at Dundonald Links on the back of four successive missed cuts.
But Ilonen looks set to be sticking around for the weekend this time after an excellent start.
He said: “That is my best round of the season, really.
“I’m not going to say the whole season has been pretty bad so far but a good part of it has been pretty slow.
“It was a nice feeling to get something going, make a few birdies and have no mistakes on the card.
“I actually changed my irons on Tuesday.
“Titleist came out with new irons this week and I put them straight in the bag.
“Sometimes it can just be the very little things that get you going and that might be what works for me this week.
“It gave me a little extra confidence and I didn’t really miss a shot out there.
“That is the best I have struck the ball for two or three years.”
The Finnish golfer has tasted success on the links before having won the Amateur Championship at Royal Liverpool in 2000.
Ilonen has a two-stroke advantage at the summit with Rickie Fowler, Ian Poulter and Padraig Harrington among six players who shot 67 to finish five under.
Ilonen hasn’t won on the European Tour since the 2014 Volvo World Match Play Championship and, unsurprisingly given his recent poor form, is refusing to get carried away after a superb start.
He said: “There is a long way to go.
“It is only Thursday.
“I played links golf when I was a kid and won the Amateur back in the day so there is some experience in there.
“I’ve also had a couple of good Opens in the past so I’ve played a fair amount of links golf and I know what to expect.
“The weather can change but hopefully the wind direction doesn’t change because this wind was pretty playable for me.
“At the start of the day I wasn’t imagining shooting 65.
“I thought anything in the 60s would be a great round.
“Given my recent form, I would have been happy with anything under par but seven under is a good start.
“When I woke up this morning I actually didn’t feel great and had to take a little bit of medication to get me going.
“I had a terrible migraine but when that went away I managed to relax and play some golf, just one shot at a time.”