Reed takes the early clubhouse lead at Troon

He wasn’t the most popular man in Scotland during the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014, but Patrick Reed got the Open crowd pretty excited with a stunning five-under-par round which yielded seven birdies.

The world No.13 put on an exhibition of ball-striking last weekend at the Scottish Open to finish 10th and continued where he left off by slam dunking a gap-wedge from 100 yards for an eagle on the third.

The outward nine has a history of playing easier than the back at Troon and so it proved as Reed took advantage of the benign conditions to notch three birdies in his next four holes.

He reached the turn in 31, but blotted his copybook with a bogey five on 10 to slip back to four-under-par.

The 25-year-old managed to negotiate the hazardous Railway hole unscathed and was soon celebrating with his trademark fist pump – a common sight on these shores during the Ryder Cup two years ago – when he birdied the par-4 12th to move back to five-under-par.

A second bogey of the day followed on the next hole and saw him relinquish the outright lead for a second time.

However, he remained in contention with a run of pars and rounded things off in style by holing a 15ft birdie putt on 18 for a round of 66 and the clubhouse lead.

There may still be three rounds to go, but the omens already look pretty good for Reed. The last six Open winners at Troon all heralded from across the pond.

If ever the stage was set to banish the demons from Gleneagles and win over the Scottish crowd…