Dyson delivers sober verdict

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Dyson, who played on the victorious Walker Cup team of 1999, has five top 10s to his credit already this season, and a four-under-par 68 gave him a share of the lead with Swedish pair Peter Hanson and Peter Gustafsson and Argentina's Andres Romero after the first round of the Irish Open.

The decision to follow in the footsteps of Nick Dougherty and Kenneth Ferrie and cut out the partying is certainly paying dividends and Dyson admitted: "It was very tempting at times."

The 29-year-old from York won the Asian Tour Order of Merit in 2000 but it took until the Indonesia Open in Jakarta last year for him to win on the European Tour and followed that with victory in the KLM Open in August.

Dyson added: "You're a 24, 25-year-old lad earning money that you never dreamt of, and you're seeing the world. My dad was always on at me because he knew I wasn't putting all of my time into being the best player that I could be.

"Then Nick and Ken (sixth in the US Open last year) just changed their attitude. Nick was the one I used to go out with and all of a sudden he's going to the gym and earning a million quid a year and I thought 'I want a bit of that.'

"I'd had a nice four years and earnt a few quid, I could probably earn a fortune and enjoy it even more, so I thought 'why not?'"

Asked whether money or victories matters most, Dyson added: "There's no better feeling than standing there when you've holed the winning putt and everyone is applauding you with the trophy. It's a fantastic feeling."

Lee Westwood had that feeling on Sunday evening in Spain and is in contention for back-to-back wins following an opening 71.

Ireland's Paul McGinley, who described the course as his favourite inland course in Ireland, carded a level par 72 but defending champion Thomas Bjorn - who recovered from an opening 78 to win at Carton House 12 months ago - could only manage a 75. Pre-tournament favourite Padraig Harrington could only manage a 73.