Ever since Tom Lewis set the early pace in July's Open Championship and went on to take the silver medal as the leading amateur, our English neighbours in the media have been salivating at what the Hertfordshire youngster may achieve in the game.

In the first round of the £3.2m Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, James Byrne, Scotland’s own emerging talent, yesterday grabbed a considerable chunk of the limelight as he upstaged his fellow rookie to finish in the upper echelons of a star-studded field.

As Lewis opened his challenge with a four-under 68 at Kingsbarns, Byrne, the 22-year-old from Banchory, roared home in 31 over the same Fife venue on his way to a five-under 67 to leave him in a tie for fifth, a shot behind joint frontrunners Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Michael Hoey, Markus Brier and former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen.

Like Lewis, Byrne was a member of the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup-winning side at Royal Aberdeen earlier this month. Like Lewis, Byrne joined the paid ranks in the immediate aftermath of that triumph and signed up with global sports management giants IMG.

And, like Lewis, Byrne is striving to earn a European Tour card through the six or seven invitations he is likely to earn thanks to the clout of those who now look after his affairs.

While Lewis marked his pro debut with a share of 10th in last weekend’s Austrian Open on the principal circuit, Byrne notched a solid, if low-key, 24th place finish in the second-tier Challenge Tour’s Allianz Open in Toulouse.

Yesterday, in the esteemed company of his amateur partner Peter Dawson, the Royal & Ancient chief executive, Irish entrepreneur JP McManus and triple major winner, and two-time Dunhill Links champion, Padraig Harrington, Byrne sparkled.

In the pleasant, yet tricky conditions in the East Neuk, Byrne, level-par at the turn, unleashed the heavy artillery on his inward half to reel off five birdies to propel himself up the order.

“Tom has been highlighted as one of the best young players in the country and for good reason. It’s understandable that there’s quite a bit of pressure on him because he’s had a lot of media coverage after the Open,” said Byrne, one of six members of the Walker Cup team in action this week. “The rest of us are all good players but we’re maybe sneaking up a little bit without the same exposure. That’s probably a good thing. Tom and I are hoping to make the most of the invitations we get. I’ve said before my expectations aren’t too high because I’ve only just turned pro, but this is an ideal event for young guys coming out of the amateur game. We played these courses so many times as amateurs; that’s probably an advantage.”

Just over a year ago, Byrne endured one of the most crushing moments of his career over the Kingsbarns links in final qualifying for the Open at St Andrews.

Having led the 36-hole shoot-out by three shots after a first-round 64, the former Scottish Boys’ Strokeplay champion stumbled to a closing 76 to miss out in a play-off for a major debut. Yesterday was something of a redemption. “Given what happened, it was a much sweeter taste leaving here than the last time,” he added.

As Byrne made an impressive early impression, Glasgow’s Marc Warren demonstrated his undoubted talent with a neatly assembled five-under 67 at Carnoustie, which was the best score of the day over the robust Angus links.

At 151st on the Race to Dubai rankings, Warren, who last season lost his full European Tour card, is in desperate need of a lofty finish on home soil to haul himself up the money list and avoid another grim trip to the tour’s qualifying school. Having negotiated purposefully around the toughest of the three venues, the double tour winner has established a solid beachhead from which to launch a profitable championship campaign this week.

“Last year was the first time in a few years that I’d been at q-school and it was not enjoyable,” said Warren, who finished a shot ahead of his 2007 World Cup-winning partner Colin Montgomerie, who had a 68 at Kingsbarns. “It’s not something you want to be involved in, but I believe I’m playing good enough golf to avoid it.”

At the head of the field, co-leader Oosthuizen, returning to the Kingdom of Fife for the first time since being crowned Open champion over the Old Course in 2010, carved out a 66 at Kingsbarns. The South African, 28, missed last year’s Dunhill after tearing ligaments in his ankle during a hunting expedition. It was a sore one to take, above the obvious physical pain. “I was too upset that I wasn’t there [at the Dunhill] last year, I didn’t even want to watch it on TV,” he said. “There’s nothing better than holding the Claret Jug at St Andrews. Hopefully by the end of the week I’ll be lifting a different trophy there.”