GLASGOW, September 26, 2013 (AFP) - Wilson carded an eight-under-par first round of 64 at Kingsbarns, one of the three courses used for the pro-am event, to claim joint top spot with fellow Englishmen Tom Lewis and Richard McEvoy, France's Alexandre Kaleka and Chile's Mark Tullo.
The 33-year-old's success in Scotland was a rare bright spot for a player now ranked a lowly 489th in the world two years after losing his European Tour card.
And if he needs any further motivation to regain the form which saw him finish seventh on the Order of Merit in 2009, he need look no further than his former Ryder Cup partner Henrik Stenson, who was 230th in the rankings at the start of 2012 but is now fourth following his Tour Championship and FedEx Cup triumph on Sunday.
"I'm playing a lot better," said Wilson, who combined with Stenson to recover from four down to beat the United States pair of Phil Mickelson and Anthony Kim in the Ryder Cup foursomes at Valhalla in 2008.
"For the first time in probably over a year actually, I have some control over my shots and am able to hit the shots and trust it under pressure as well.
"I'm driving the ball way, way better, which is essentially the thing that had disappeared. I wasn't able to get it in play, wasn't able to get it on fairways and, in any wind, I was really in trouble.
"It was nice of Dunhill and Johann (Rupert, tournament host) to give me an invite to this event, because it's going to be a great test."
Arguably the most impressive round of the day from outside the leaders came from Welshman Jamie Donaldson, who returned a seven-under 65 at Carnoustie to lie joint sixth with Scotland's George Murray and English trio Mark Foster, Matthew Baldwin and Tommy Fleetwood.
Selected first round scores in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at the Old Course St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, Scotland (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
At Kingsbarns
64 - Oliver Wilson, Tom Lewis
65 - Matthew Baldwin, Mark Foster
66 - Soren Kjeldsen (DEN), Chris Wood, Garth Mulroy (RSA), Brandon Stone (RSA), Eddie Pepperell, Simon Dyson
67 - Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA), Keith Horne (RSA), Eduardo De La Riva (ESP), Graeme Storm
68 - Hennie Otto (RSA), Mikko Ilonen (FIN), Ross Fisher, Greg Chalmers (AUS), Anthony Wall, Shane Lowry, Matthew Millar (AUS), Matteo Delpodio (ITA), Justin Walters (RSA)
69 - Robert Jan Derksen (NED), Richie Ramsay, Maximilian Kieffer (GER), Kristoffer Broberg (SWE), Danny Willett, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (IND), Brooks Koepka (USA), Gary Lockerbie, Robert Rock, Alejandro Canizares (ESP), Ken Duke (USA), Ignacio Garrido (ESP), Simon Thornton
70 - Neil Raymond, Jake Roos (RSA), Rhys Davies, Thongchai Jaidee (THA)
71 - John Parry, Lorenzo Gagli (ITA), Scott Jamieson
72 - Steve Webster, Haydn Porteous (RSA), Gareth Maybin, Max Orrin, David Higgins
At St Andrews
64 - Mark Tullo (CHI), Richard McEvoy, Alexandre Kaleka (FRA)
65 - George Murray, Tommy Fleetwood
66 - Justin Thomas (USA), Alessandro Tadini (ITA), David Horsey, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN)
67 - Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG), Jason Norris (AUS), Alexander Noren (SWE)
68 - Felipe Aguilar (CHI), Richard Finch, Jorge Campillo (ESP), Simon Wakefield, Thomas Levet (FRA)
69 - Joachim B Hansen (DEN), David Drysdale, Magnus A Carlsson (SWE), Soren Hansen (DEN), Jaco Van Zyl (RSA), Simon Khan, James Morrison
70 - Romain Wattel (FRA), Peter Whiteford, Marc Warren, Gregory Bourdy (FRA), Steven Jones (AUS), Trevor Fisher Jnr (RSA), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP)
71 - Craig Lee, Anders Hansen (DEN), Paul Waring, Maarten Lafeber (NED), Johan Edfors (SWE), Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Niclas Fasth (SWE), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR), Jesper Parnevik (SWE)
At Carnoustie
65 - Jamie Donaldson
67 - Joost Luiten (NED), David Howell, Darren Fichardt (RSA)
68 - Charl Schwartzel (RSA), Michael Hoey
69 - Bjorn Akesson (SWE), Ernie Els (RSA), Martin Kaymer (GER), Darren Clarke, Gregory Havret (FRA), Julien Quesne (FRA), Seve Benson
70 - Retief Goosen (RSA), Matthew Nixon, Branden Grace (RSA), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Paul McGinley, Christopher Doak
71 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Peter Uihlein (USA)
72 - Richard Bland, Martin Wiegele (AUT), James Kingston (RSA), Doug McGuigan, Andrew Dodt (AUS), Chris Paisley, Oliver Fisher, Rich Beem (USA), Andreas Harto (DEN), Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE), Richard Sterne (RSA)