After two wins last season and two near-misses already this year the 29-year-old Yorkshireman is up to 75th in the world and finishing 2007 in the top 50 to earn himself a trip to Augusta is one of his main goals.

“I’ve grown up a bit I think and do things a lot better and correct,” said Dyson, who late on the opening day led by one from South African Louis Oosthuizen and last year’s English amateur champion Ross McGowan, playing just his second European Tour event.

“I just used to have a bit too much of a jolly. I used to enjoy it a bit too much and wasn’t doing the right things in the evenings.

“We’d go out and have a bit of a good time – instead of getting an early night and watching the England game!

“At least it made me realise that my life’s not that bad. My local pub team would have beaten Andorra.”

Nephew of Terry Dyson, part of Tottenham’s double-winning side in 1961, and a promising footballer himself as a teenager, the former Walker Cup player was fortunate to be among the early starters who were well into their rounds before the wind starting gusting to almost 30mph.

He had two quick birdies and then a 20-foot eagle putt on the 573-yard 16th, which downwind he reached with a drive and five-iron.

Oosthuizen teed off only 45 minutes later and reached four under after 11, but played the remaining seven in one over to finish alongside McGowan, who despite failing to earn a Tour card at the qualifying school last November decided to turn professional rather than wait for this September’s Walker Cup.

“I think my parents would have preferred me not to, but I thought it was time to move on.”

Paul Broadhurst, for whom victory on Sunday would make him just the fifth player in Tour history to win a title three years in a row (after Ian Woosnam, Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Tiger Woods twice), is well-placed on two under.

On the same mark is Dyson’s close friend Nick Dougherty, another eager to fulfil his promise rather than waste it.

“He changed before I did and got the rewards. To see him getting the results made me want to do exactly the same – I was jealous,” said Dyson.

Of the later starters Scot Stephen Gallacher was two under with seven to play, having covered the inward half in a four under 31, while Barry Lane, who on the same course two years ago led by one with one to play and crashed to a quintuple bogey nine, was one under with four holes remaining.

Fellow Englishman Robert Rock started his round today with a sextuple bogey 11 - and with the wind predicted to continue there could well be more double-figure scores to come.