A return to not just one, but two happy hunting grounds this week might just be the thing to reignite the career of Paul Lawrie.

Europe's last winner of a major title was back at Carnoustie for a company day on Monday before travelling to the scene of his last victory in the 2002 Wales Open at Celtic Manor.

And he began the event yesterday with a four under par 65 to share the clubhouse lead - with no fewer than eight others.

Fellow Scots Gary Orr and Steven O'Hara, Spain's Jose Manuel Lara, Australian Brett Rumford, New Zealander Steve Alker, Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez and Dane Soren Kjeldsen all finished on the same mark and so did England's Paul Broadhurst four days after slumping to an 80 when sharing the lead in the BMW PGA Championship.

Hartlepool's Graeme Storm had a healthy start - carding a level par 69, four shots off the pace.

Favourite Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie and Wentworth winner Anders Hansen, however, were not even in the top 75 after one over rounds of 70.

By missing seven of his last nine halfway cuts Lawrie has dropped back outside the world's top 250 and has slumped to 132nd on the Order of Merit.

But the 1999 Open champion said: ''I was six under after 14 on Monday using a new putter and holed a good few eight to 10-footers with it today.

''I don't think I've actually been playing that poorly, but I haven't been knocking them in as I'd want to.

''But that's the game, isn't it? You don't always get what you think you should.

''I always enjoy coming here. The hotel is one of the nicest we stay in on Tour, I feel comfortable and I have had a good record.''

A 35-foot chip-in on the short 15th, his sixth, certainly helped his cause and his only mistake came when he three-putted the fourth.

Rumford was delighted to be making news for the quality of his golf rather than just the speed of it. On Sunday he completed a closing 77 in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in 113 minutes, just five minutes outside the Tour record.

This time, with two playing partners and golfers ahead of him to slow him down, he took nearly two-and-a-half hours longer, but needed 12 strokes fewer.

LEADERBOARD

65 Brett Rumford (Au), Gary Orr, Paul Lawrie, Ricardo Gonzalez (Ar), Steven O'Hara, Paul Broadhurst, Jose Manuel Lara (Es)

66 Christian Cevaer (Fr), Liam Bond, Michael Campbell (Nz), Alastair Forsyth, Gregory Bourdy (Fr), Bradley Dredge

67 Garry Houston, James Heath, Phillip Price, David Lynn, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Es), Richard Sterne (Za), Simon Khan

68 Andrew Tampion (Au), David Griffiths, Kyron Sullivan, Gary Murphy, Ignacio Garrido (Es), David Bransdon (Au), Rafael Cabrera Bello (Es), Marcus Fraser (Au), Edward Rush, Thomas Levet (Fr)

69 Ross Fisher, Matthew Richardson, Sion Bebb, Nick Dougherty, Marcel Siem (De), Andrew Coltart, Simon Wakefield, Graeme Storm, Alexandre Rocha (Br), Marcus Higley, Wen-chong Liang (Cn), Simon Thornton.