By Steve Scott, golf correspondent

MIRRORS AND cameras in a dark room in Birmingham might not seem the most inspirational way to cure golfing problems—and even Lee Westwood thinks the set-up at Paul Hurrian’s putting clinic “sounds a bit kinky”.

However, slow-motion analysis spotted what was wrong with the Ryder Cup star’s stroke and even the bumpy greens late in the day at Loch Lomond couldn’t stop the 1998 champion moving into a tie for the lead after the first round of the Barclays Scottish Open.

Westwood’s six-under 65 is level with World No 3 Phil Mickelson, bouncing back from wrist injury troubles, plus new French Open champion Graeme Storm and Soren Hansen, who has been pressing in three successive tournaments now.

Despite his win in Andalucia earlier this year when the big names were largely at the Players Championship, Westwood has been seeking some relief from putting woes and was directed to Hurrian by David Howell and Padraig Harrington.

“It had been pretty much abysmal all year,” he said. “I just took last week off and decided to get it sorted out so I went to see Paul.

“It’s a hard floor, putting surface, carpets, cameras all over the room and mirrors; it sounds a bit kinky when you say it like that!

“I was there for four hours, and when we looked at the film it was pretty clear I wasn’t going to make anything the way I was putting. I was shocked at how bad it was and could see the problem immediately, and he gave me tips to go back to the way I was putting in 1998 through to 2000.”

Westwood took only 27 putts on the day, and didn’t miss a fairway in his round which also helped a lot.

“If I keep putting like this I won’t be too deterred and I’ll look forward to Carnoustie—it’s probably my favourite out of all the Open courses.”

The key to Mickelson’s sudden renaissance after missed cuts at the US Open and the AT&T National was not a miracle cure for his wrist injury, but a diagnosis which showed that a full swing wasn’t damaging it further.

“It was a bone bruise rather than a strain, and there’s nothing that can be done until the inflammation goes,” he said. “I realised it’s not going to get any worse, so I’m not afraid to go after shots now because while it still hurts, I’m not hurting it more.”

It means he gets a stinging pain akin to a hairline fracture injury every time he makes contact, but he will bear it and it didn’t effect his general play yesterday.

“It was a great, great day to score low, not much wind and the greens were putting very well in the morning,” he said, adding that he considered Loch Lomond to be perfect preparation for Carnoustie next week.

“Even though the ground reacts differently to the ball at Carnoustie, it’s the same sort of shot we play here, keeping it low and under the tree-line,” he said.

“I’ve been trying to hit lower shots and it worked in 2004 (when he was third behind Todd Hamilton at Royal Troon) so in the last few months I’ve been working with Butch Harmon on that low shot, and we’ll be working on it again next week.”

Mickelson eagled the long 13th—his fourth hole—after an early bogey and then picked up five birdies to leave himself tied with playing partner Storm, who continued his form from his French Open win two weeks ago.

The two discussed the versions of football from either side of the Atlantic—although Storm didn’t try to confuse Mickelson by relating his love of Hartlepool United FC—but the former Amateur champion got a few tips.

“Playing with someone like Phil you learn a lot and it was nice to be able to match him and follow him in at the last hole,” he said “We basically fed off each other, really.” The third member of the group, defending champion Johan Edfors, didn’t join the feast with a disappointing 76.

The fourth man at the top of the leaderboard was Hansen, for the third week in succession staking a claim for the lead, although he has failed to hold on each time, even going into the last round in Ireland last week.

“I’m not beating myself up about it, I was 124th in the Order of Merit a month ago,” said the Dane. “A few things have clicked and I’m playing good golf, and although I’m disappointed about last week, I got beaten by a better player.”

Sharing fifth on five-under 66s are two more Scandinavians, Finland’s Mirko Ilonen and Christian Nilsson of Sweden, as well as England’s Mark Foster and Germany’s Marcel Seim.

Ernie Els had four bogeys in his 69, Retief Goosen (70) and Sergio Garcia (71) still looked a little short of inspiration going into next week.

The American contingent did well with European debutant Boo Weekley shooting 68 and former PGA champion Shaun Micheel a 67, but former champion Tom Lehman limped to a 76.