It wasn’t quite rolling back the years.

But it was Sandy Lyle’s best start to an Open in over a decade.

And the veteran Scot posted his one under par round with a putter that would have been more de rigueur at his first championship 40 years ago than the current tournament.

Lyle will almost certainly be the only hickory-wielding golfer in the field, albeit a modern hickory, if there is such a thing.

The short club, and a quick lesson from renowned putting guru Dave Stockton on how best to use it, have got the 57-year-old thinking this could be a good week.

“It was my best first round in a while,” Lyle admitted. “A bit like old times.

“The putter’s s only about a month old but it looks like it’s from the 1920s.

“I was using a similar one in Augusta. It’s got more loft on it. Modern putters aren’t easy to get loft on.

“I play quite a bit of hickory golf. I’m playing with them all the time, so I thought ‘why not’?

“I’ll not be doing it with the rest of the clubs though!”

He added: “My method of putting has changed after working a bit with Stockton. It’s given me a boost.

“I saw him at the Masters. I wanted to pick his brains about the two putters I had.

“I showed him a modern whatever. It was a 500 dollar job that weighed about three pounds, and then there was the hickory. You couldn’t get a bigger contrast but he said he liked the look of me with the hickory.

“I’ve been in the game a long time and you think you know everything about putting. He’s such a busy guy so it was good to get a few minutes. It opened my eyes. I’m still learning!

“I haven’t three putted today and I made a few as well. I was about 30 or 31 putts, which isn’t bad on these big greens. If you’re playing well but not putting well, it’s a drag.”

The afternoon starters are expected to have the worst of the conditions today, so Lyle still has a fight on his hands to make a rare Open cut.

“I think it was a case of having to get a good first round,” he reflected.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty about what we’ll have to put up with tomorrow.

“The course has been up for grabs today and you really needed to be under par.”