Englishman Steven Webster marked his return to competitive action yesterday by taming the rigorous links of Carnoustie and powering to the head of the field after the opening round of the £2.5million Alfred Dunhill Links championship.

The 32-year-old from Nuneaton carved out an impressive seven-under-par 65 over the testing Angus links to move into a one shot lead over Scotsman Paul Lawrie, Denmark's Soren Hansen, Hennie Otto of South Africa and Australia's Scott Strange.

Webster, the former Italian Open champion, set the tone for a productive day by holing a 20-foot putt for birdie on the first hole - and followed that up by making gains at both the second and third.

The Englishman, who won the Open silver medal as the top amateur in the 1995 Open at St Andrews, picked up a further birdie at the sixth.

He dropped a shot at 11, before reeling off four birdies in his closing seven holes to hoist himself to the front.

Webster has not played on the tour since the KLM Open over a month ago due to a niggling back injury.

But after bouncing back he said: ''I was struggling a bit with the back. It was really sore down the right side and it's still a bit sore now.

''But I'm delighted with this start. I didn't think I've ever broken 70 in this tournament so it's a bit of a breakthrough for me. Let's hope it keeps going.''

Graeme Storm was paired with Henrik Stenson and Ronan Keating at Carnoustie and life proved a rollercoaster for the North-East favourite.

After starting well and going two under par, Storm ended on two over par - a round which included a triple bogey seven on the par four opener. Former Boyzone member Keating enjoyed a two-under 70.

Former Open champion Lawrie illuminated an otherwise disappointing season with a neatly assembled six-under 66 over the Old course as he barged into a share of second.

The 38-year-old from Aberdeen, who won the Dunhill title back in 2001, was one-under through 10 holes but after cushioning a six-iron to within 20 feet at the 11th and holing the putt for birdie, the former Ryder Cup player moved up through the gears.

European number seven Hansen joined Lawrie on the six-under mark at the Old course after a tidy round highlighted by a surge of four successive birdies from the 10th to the 13th.

The 33-year-old bridged a five-year title gap on the tour last month by winning the Mercedes Benz championship in Cologne.