It put him in third place late in the day and part of a group which also included Ryder Cup team-mates Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia.

Rising American star Zach Johnson was one in front of them, but the shock leader was Steve Jones – at 743rd in the world the lowest-ranked player in a tournament boasting all the top 50.

The former US Open champion, now 46 and back playing after elbow surgery sidelined him all last year, had a staggering run of seven birdies in eight holes around the turn and then rounded off his day’s work with another to finish only one outside the course record held by Fred Couples and Greg Norman.

Garcia missed a seven-foot eagle chance on his final hole, the 583-yard ninth, after a spectacular three-wood second, while Westwood, who like Donald has made early exits the last two years, still had four holes to play and had yet to drop a stroke.

Also in the thick of things was Padraig Harrington, runner-up the last two years but playing this time only because his cancer-suffering father wanted to watch him on television.

The Dubliner again showed his liking for the Stadium course with a 67 – three ahead of both Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and four in front of Ernie Els. But the other member of golf’s “Fab Four”, world number one Vijay Singh, was five under as well.

Donald’s first moment of good fortune came on the 447-yard 18th, his ninth, where his drive carried the lake with nothing to spare, actually hit the wooden sleepers on the edge of the hazard.

He parred that hole to start for home one under, then covered the front nine in a sparkling 31.

The birdies at the first, second, fourth and sixth were achieved because of his talent, but the one at the long ninth needed some help from Lady Luck as well.

After a poor second pulled into a bunker 93 yards short of the green his third caught an overhanging branch and could easily have come straight down just in front of him.

Instead the ball made the green and rolled up to eight feet, from where he rolled the putt in.

“You need those breaks,” he admitted. “This course can bite you quite quickly and it kept the momentum going.

“I didn’t think the drive on the 18th was going to be that close (to the water), but it cleared it by a couple of inches. I got away with that one.”

After scores of 74-76 in 2003 and 72-76 last year he added: “It’s nice to post a good round here.”

He also got the limelight back off his brother Christian, who has had a much more successful time on the course in the past.

Each year the caddies have a nearest-the-pin competition on the island green 17th and Christian has finished first and second the last two years.

This time he hooked his shot and was not among the prizes. “I’m getting my own back,” joked Luke.

Harrington admitted he struggled for proper concentration during his round, but said that that was not caused by the situation back at home and instead was just one of those things that happens to him.

“It was a funny day – one of those when my mind just wandered,” he commented. “But if I’ve come this far I had better focus.

“I’m not going out there and getting down on myself. It’s not a motivational factor, but I’m trying to ensure it’s not a detrimental thing.

“I don’t think the course will ever play as easy as it did today, although we were getting mud on the ball and I find that very unnerving. I panic.”

A hat-trick of birdies from the 15th – his sixth – brought him on to the leaderboard and, after bogeying the first, he picked up more shots coming home.

Mickelson had earlier led when he birdied four of his first six holes, but then the Masters champion, returning to action following a skiing holiday and two-week break, ran up a double bogey five on the short eighth and carved his drive to the 18th into the lake.

Woods, who lost the world number one position to Singh again on Sunday, did not capitalise on two birdies in his first four, while Nick Faldo fell back from three under to one under.

Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn both holed their approaches to the fourth for eagle twos but, while Bjorn recovered from an opening triple bogey to be two under with five left, Clarke could do no better than a one over 73.

Former winner and ex-world number one David Duval, in turmoil with his game this season, laboured again to a four over par 76. He was six over with three to play, but then eagled the 16th.

Hope springs eternal, Duval might have reflected, and he was not last. Last year’s Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton, winner in 2000, crashed to an 84.