Chris Doak's Highland charge to top spot

The 33-year-old, who won the Tartan Tour's Northern Open over the same Aviemore venue back in 2008, enjoyed a happy return to the Highlands with a fine eight-under card that left him two shots clear of Sweden's professional debutant, Jesper Kennegard.

Doak, who was disqualified from last weekend's Saint Omer Open for signing for the wrong score, is no stranger to spectacularly low rounds. His ten-under 61 over the King's course at Gleneagles helped secure him last year's Scottish PGA championship while his 62 over the PGA Catalunya course in Girona during the 2008 European Tour qualifying school final pushed him towards a place at the top table.

Wearing his now trademark bunnet, not as a tribute to Ben Hogan but to that Royal & Ancient figure of hard rock, AC/DC lead singer Brian Johnson, Doak, who started on the 11th, put the cap on his round with a putt of 20-feet for an eagle-two on the driveable ninth.

"I do occasionally go very low, I just wish I could put four of them together," said Doak. "The game has been in great shape but I've been struggling with the putting quite a lot. I made a change in my routine today and it seems to have worked. I was getting the pace first and then having a quick look at the line and getting the putter behind the ball and just letting it go. I was struggling with the line but that seems to be helping."

On the hat front, Doak added: "I would like to say that I am wearing these caps as a Hogan tribute but it actually came about when I was at an AC/DC concert. I said to my girlfriend that I'd like to wear that at the golf. She said, 'Why don't you?' and I thought I would give it a go, even though I'll probably get the mickey taken out of me which has been pretty much the case."

As Doak surged to the front, Greig Hutcheon's purple patch, aided by yellow golf balls and some colourful words of wisdom from the redoubtable Bob Torrance, continued as he fired a 67 to tuck in himself in among the early frontrunners.

Having made the cut in the BMW PGA championship and the Wales Open recently, while notching four Tartan Tour wins this month, the galvanised 38-year-old has bolstered his bank balance by over 30,000 in the past five weeks. His renaissance can be pinpointed to a meeting with veteran coach Torrance during the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles last year.

"I've been playing well since last August when I got a bit of an impromptu lesson on the range from Bob," said Hutcheon, one of the rare breed of pros who employs the Srixon Z-star yellow ball which he believes relaxes the mind and makes it easier to hit.

"He took one look at me and said, 'What's the strongest part of your body?' I replied 'My legs' to which he came back 'Aye, well why don't you effing use them!'

"He said I should get the legs into the shot and turn my hips a bit more. It was a nice tip and since then I've played well." Elliot Saltman, who opted to stay on home soil instead of travelling to the BMW International in Munich as a reserve, was rewarded with a tidy 67 that comprised a meagre 23 putts. Gavin Dear, who has struggled to find his feet on this season's Challenge Tour since promotion from the Alps Tour, opened with a 68 but former PGA champion Scott Drummond had a one-over 72 while two-time European Tour winner Marc Warren slipped to a 74.