From Gleneagles to a pair of eagles.

While the rest of his Ryder Cup team-mates toiled, Stephen Gallacher hauled himself to the fringes of the top 10 during the first round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Reducing the two par-fives on Carnoustie's back nine to just six blows certainly helped matters. A three on the 12th was followed by a three on the 14th as Gallacher opened his challenge with a four-under 68. A leisurely build-up to this week's proceedings also aided his assault. "I thought the best preparation for this was just to go to my bed early for three nights given how draining it was last week," admitted the 39-year-old. "I only played two holes in practice, that was it."

He got himself back in the swing yesterday, though. A 3-wood into 20-feet on the 12th spawned the first of the eagles before he clattered a raking downwind tee-shot on the 14th and was left with a wedge in. "I actually hit my wedge 200 yards which tells you what the wind was like," added Gallacher, who would trundle in the putt of 10-feet he was left with there. "I tell you what, the back nine was brutal. I played very nicely. I was just a wee bit tired at the end but I'm more than happy."

Gallacher's countryman, Jamie McLeary, also took flight with an eagle as he finished with a flourish at Kingsbarns to lead the Scottish challenge with a five-under 67.

A 30-footer on the ninth - his last - for a three lifted the 33-year-old into a share of fifth. If he is still in that position come Sunday night, his whole season will change. At a lowly 169th spot on the Race to Dubai rankings, McLeary could do with seizing a sizeable chunk of the whopping £3m prize pot that is on offer here. Having made just four cuts in his first 19 events on the European Tour in 2014, McLeary has made six of his last eight and he needs a big result on home soil this week to bolster his bid to safeguard his European Tour card.

Richie Ramsay, the two-time European Tour champion, has no such concerns and, after an injury-plagued start to the year, the Aberdonian is looking to continue his year-ending push for honours. In his last four events, Ramsay has finished 17th, ninth, eighth and fourth and a four-under 68 at Carnoustie kept him heading in the right direction.

"The game has been really good recently and I am just focusing on enjoying it again," said Ramsay, who admitted that his injury-induced spell on the sidelines had given him a new appreciation of what he does for a living.

"Being injured at the start of the year has made me just enjoy being out here a little bit more. I just want to be the best that I can be. I am not going to say that I am going to start chasing down Rory McIlroy but I am trying to be the best I can be."

Paul Lawrie, the Dunhill Links champion in 2001, has endured a frustrating year that has been hampered by fluctuating form and fitness but he made a decent start to proceedings at Kingsbarns yesterday with a three-under 68.