The 30-year-old from Perth was first out at 7.30am local time and only arrived at the course with nine minutes to spare, but sprinted to the 10th tee and promptly started with a birdie.

Four more birdies and a bogey added up to an outward half of 32 and two more birdies coming home saw him establish the course record with a 64, six under par.

That was one shot clear of Swedish amateur Fredrik Qvicker, the 21-year-old carding five birdies in seven holes on the back nine for a 65, and Birmingham’s Sam Walker.

“I was on the bus at 6.45am when I got a phone call saying I was in,” Strange revealed. “As soon as I heard that we hit a traffic jam and the bus driver wouldn’t break the speed limit for me.

“I got off the bus at 7.21am and flashed through the car park and arrived puffing on the 10th tee. I didn't even have a caddie but fortunately David’s caddie was there and agreed to work for me instead and it worked out great.” Strange had not even had time for a practice round because his clubs did not arrive until Wednesday morning but added: “It’s amazing how you can get to the first tee all flustered and play a good round.

“I’m surprised to shoot that score with everything that was going through my mind but I know I’m capable of doing it. I suppose it might be the way forward but I don’t want to go through all that again!”

Walker qualified for the US Open earlier this season, his first major championship, but a missed cut at Oakmont was part of a depressing sequence of 13 early exits in 14 events.

The 29-year-old bounced back with 20th place in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Germany and ninth in the Russian Open a fortnight ago, but still needs to improve from 148th on the Order of Merit into the top 115 by the end of the season to keep his card.

“I’ve won 120,000 euro so far and my goal is to win another 100,000,” Walker said. “The prize money in events keeps going up, which is good on the one hand but on the other it means you need to win more each year to keep your card.” Yorkshire’s Simon Dyson, sixth in the USPGA Championship on Sunday, had earlier looked set to carry on from where he left off at Arlandastad.

Dyson, who carded a superb 64 in the final round at Southern Hills to claim his first top-10 finish in a major championship, also started from the 10th and birdied the 11th and 14th and then eagled the 15th.

However, the 29-year-old bogeyed the 18th and dropped further shots at the third and fourth to drop back to one under.

Star attraction John Daly, second after the first round at Southern Hills before fading to 32nd, could only manage a 72, two over par, the same score as playing partner and defending champion Marc Warren of Scotland.

England’s David Howell, a lowly 116th on the Order of Merit after an injury-plagued season, fared even worse with a 73.