Experience ensures leader Clarke retains sense of perspective

Clarke, spurred on by fellow Northern Irishmen Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy, leads the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond after a six-under-par 65.

There is an added incentive for the 40-year-old with this being his last chance to grab a place in the Open next week.

"I've been on Tour for a long time," he said when asked about the one St Andrews spot on offer.

"This is the first round and there's an awful long way to go, but of course I would love to qualify."

The Ryder Cup hero will return this morning a stroke ahead of England's Graeme Storm, Ireland's Damien McGrane and Italian Edoardo Molinari.

McDowell, returning to Tour life three weeks after his

US Open triumph, trails by six after what he described as a "mixed bag" and Masters champion Phil Mickelson is on the same level par mark as he began his attempt for the top-two finish which would take him to world No 1 for the first time.

Clarke did not drop a shot all day, collecting four birdies in six holes from the third, making further birdies at the 13th and 14th and then saving par from a greenside bunker on the last during a torrential downpour. "It was pretty tough. The wind was swirling and it got very wet for the last couple of holes," said Clarke.

The round did not come totally out of the blue. He was a runner-up in South Africa in January, sixth in Portugal last month, and on Tuesday won the star-studded JP McManus featuring Tiger Woods at Adare Manor in west Ireland.

McDowell warned people not to expect great things from him after so much celebrating, but closing with two birdies means a third successive win – he lifted the Wales Open before heading to Pebble Beach – cannot be ruled out yet.

"There were a few good swings in there and a few champagne swings as well," he said.

The best example of the latter was an eight-iron to the 190-yard fifth which came up 50 yards short only just over the hazard.

Mickelson was one under after 13, but double-bogeyed the next and it could have been far worse. He was seconds away from having to go back to the tee after a search for his second shot.

Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie managed just a 74, while 2005 US Open champion Michael Campbell took 10 on the long sixth in his 80. It included a two-shot penalty because, without realising it until the green, he switched to a different type of ball after losing his drive.