Gran Canaria sunshine helps bring out the best in 'soft' Scott Jamieson

Scott Jamieson found the funny side despite feeling the cold in last week's Austrian Open at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, near Vienna. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Florida-based Scott Jamieson is more used to sun than snow these days and duly found Gran Canaria much more to his liking for a European Tour event than Austria last week.

Seven days after struggling to an opening 79 and, subsequently, an early exit in bitterly cold conditions in the Austrian Open, the big Scot carded a six-under-par 64 in the first round of the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open.

The bogey-free effort, which saw him come home in 30, at Meloneras Golf left Jamieson sitting joint-fifth, just one shot off the lead, in the opening event on a new Canary Islands Swing.

“I’m sure I’ve gone soft now I live in America,” joked the 37-year-old, who moved to Florida with his wife and young family three-and-a-half years ago and commutes across the Atlantic to play on his home circuit.

“I took a bunch of clothes off from last week and it feels like I can move. I’ve never been that cold on a golf course. I struggled to turn.

“One of my tendencies is to move my arms too much and not my body. So, when you have more clothes on and it’s that cold, it’ll encourage you to turn less – so it’s not for me.”

In weather a bit more like Florida, Jamieson birdied the 14th and 18th after starting at the tenth before picking up shots at the first, fourth, sixth and eighth holes on his impressive inward journey.