There is something different about Colin Montgomerie this year. He is playing well. The avalanche of excitement and expectation which inevitably accompanies the Scot in his homeland usually transcends the prosaic matter of his actual form.

Scotland always expects, no matter what shape Monty's game is in. Now, though, he looks capable of delivering.

Third place at the French Open last month was an indicator that his form and confidence had returned. Last week's win at the European Open, his first in 19 months, was emphatic confirmation of his credentials.

An opening two-under 69 at Loch Lomond yesterday was an encouraging portent not only for the weekend but looking ahead to the Open at Carnoustie next week.

"I would have taken two under at the start of the day," he reflected. "I got off to a flier, three under after five was good, then I hung on. It got breezy in the afternoon and I hit a 4-iron to the tenth he bogeyed which went awry and on the 12th he also bogeyed) I hit an 8-iron, but the distance was wrong. There wasn't much wrong with the shots. I was 32nd after one round last week and I'm 29th after one round this week, so I'm well in the frame."

The Scot reached the turn in 33 yesterday after posting three birdies in the opening five holes, but lost momentum on the back nine where three bogeys undermined his efforts and left him four shots adrift of the overnight leaders. He will tee off at eight o'clock this morning and declared himself happy with the earlier start.

"I much prefer going away early. If you've done well you want to keep going and if you've done badly, you want to get rid of it. The greens aren't great at this time of day, so hopefully they will be a bit smoother tomorrow morning and I will get a better score."

Monty is a new man, in more ways than one. It was revealed this week that he has changed his coach, from Denis Pugh to Pete Cowen, who has advocated a back-to-basics approach. "Monty wanted my opinion and I was happy to oblige," said Cowen, who has shown Montgomerie footage of his swing in the nineties and urged him to re-discover the technique behind his famous left-to-right shot.

He is also working with a new sports psychologist, Jamil Qureshi, the former county cricketer, after previously using Hugh Mantle for years, and has also changed his caddie, switching to Craig Connelly two weeks ago. The chemistry between the two was apparent yesterday, with the chirpy Glaswegian providing a steady flow of banter which helped keep a smile on Montgomerie's face.

Just for good measure, he has also returned to his belly putter. He has probably also changed his aftershave. What-ever, it is clearly working.

Montgomerie looked the picture of contentment in the company of his Ryder Cup team-mate, Ian Poulter, who was clad in pale blue tartan trousers and a green T-shirt. Jose Maria Olazabal was scheduled to make up the three-ball, but withdrew due to a knee injury and was replaced by the young Spaniard, Rafael Cabrera Dello, who battled to a 74.

Poulter also posted a 69, including an impressive par at the par-5 third. Prior to hitting his second shot, he skipped into the woods to relieve himself and, when he returned to hit his shot, ended up flying the green, landing on the beach. From there, he chipped back on to the green and two-putted for a 5.

"It's good to play with Ian, it's interesting," smiled Monty, who had to duck at one point when Poulter playfully threw a divot at his head.

Montgomerie's appeal continues to endure. The galleries erupted when he strode on to the first tee at 1pm. Great Scot Monty is a Legend' read a slogan emblazoned on the T-shirt of one of his faithful followers.

They did not have to wait long for reasons to be cheerful when the 44-year-old sank a 10-foot birdie putt on the second. He followed it with another at the third and an excellent tee shot on the par-3 fifth set up another birdie. Bogeys at 10 and 12 were offset by birdies at 13 and 14, before he overshot the green at 17 and slipped back to two under for the day. Watch our online video coverage