With little success since last year's US PGA victory David Toms was the forgotten man among major winners, until yesterday, writes Philip Reid

Up until yesterday, David Toms was pretty much the forgotten man of the major winners. He had lived in the shadow of Tiger Woods and, to a lesser degree, David Duval - but, yesterday, on a Scottish links far removed from the parkland course where he claimed the US PGA title, the 35-year-old reminded us of his capacity to mix it with the best.

Toms collected five birdies and a bogey to draw level with Duffy Waldorf and Carl Pettersson late in the day as he chases his first title of the year.

"Maybe I'm just pacing myself. I've got close to a win this year but haven't won a golf tournament. This would be a good place to start," he said.

It wasn't so much that he shot an opening round 67 to share the first round lead with Pettersson and Waldorf, the man with the funky Hawaiian shirts, it was the way he managed his way around the links. Sensible play off the tee, good iron approach play, and some immaculate putting; elements that contrived to remind Toms of what it is like to contend in a major.

It's a feeling he hadn't experienced this season.

In the first two majors of the year, both won by Woods, Toms struggled with the required length off the tee.

"The first two were not made for me at all," admitted Toms. "Even though I've played well at Augusta before, every year I have gone back there you find they have done something to the golf course to play away from my hands.

"I guess you could say the Masters, and the US Open, when it got soft, definitely weren't for me. But here, you know, I can win on this golf course. I can play this style of golf well. It is just a matter of executing and doing it."

Toms's win in the US PGA was one of three victories he recorded last season. This season, however, has proved to be less rewarding - a second place finish in the Mercedes Championship, where he lost to Sergio Garcia in a play-off, representing his closest call - but he believes that his win in Atlanta will stand him in good stead as he goes in search of a second major title.

"Winning the PGA gave me added confidence. Before I won the PGA, I still expected to play well. I had won a handful of tournaments and I know how tough it is to win - but winning there gave me more confidence, and I know I can win another.

"As far as this year goes, I have been disappointed that I haven't won already because I have had some opportunities. But I know in the back of my mind that I have been able to win a major against a great field on a good golf course, and any time you have that to fall back on it makes you feel good," said Toms.

Indeed, Toms believes that the demands of links golf suit his game. "It is a golf tournament where you have to play one shot at a time. A lot of the time in the United States, we just stand up on the tee and just whale it. That's why I like it over here. It really makes you bear down, it makes you think. And I like that style of golf."