The Hartlepool golfer begins his second round at the Gleneagles tournament today, knowing he could have been well in contention had it not been for three late slip-ups.

Storm finished the day on one over par with a round of 74, but he had been two under par for long sections of the round – a score which would have been enough for Storm to lie in the top 10 overnight.

Birdies at the first and second holes and then a four at the par five 12th looked to be enough to put Storm among the leaders in Scotland.

The 30-year-old's only slip-up before the final four holes was a bogey on the par three sixth, but then disaster struck.

Storm hit a run of three consecutive bogeys on 15, 16 and 17 to leave him down in joint 37th, six shots behind leader Gregory Havret.

The Frenchman sank six birdies to be two shots ahead of a group of four players.

All the talk at Gleneagles was not about Havret though, but about the state of the greens.

Referring to the seventh hole, Lee Westwood said: "I think my kids could come up with a better design than that in one afternoon."

Meanwhile, Storm's fellow Hartlepool golfer Simon Robinson faces an uphill task to meet the cut at the ECCO Tour Championship – the latest stage in the Challenge Tour.

Robinson hit an opening round of 75 to leave him three over par – three shots behind the projected cut and nine behind leader Fredrik Henge.