The Englishman had gone nine holes without picking up a shot since his three on the 10th on Thursday afternoon, failing to take advantage of both par fives on the back nine.

But the Ryder Cup winner wasted little time in generating some momentum on his return to the course the following morning.

He chipped to seven feet at the second and 10ft at the third to get back to level par and then holed an eight-footer at the seventh for his third birdie of the round.

Hatton again failed to take advantage of a par five, the eighth, but then pitched to eight feet from 113 yards to pick up another shot and turn in 32.

At two under he was still three off the lead held by defending champion Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns, not out until after lunch, and two behind Wyndham Clark who was four under after an impressive second-round 68.

The 2023 US Open champion had begun level par but three birdies in succession from the second got him moving and, although he bogeyed the 10th, successive birdies at 15 and 16 put him into contention.

Hatton’s compatriot and Ryder Cup team-mate Justin Rose, runner-up to McIlroy last year, struggled to generate his own momentum, having finished his first round with successive bogeys.

He dropped another shot at the first but clawed it back at the difficult seventh and then birdied the ninth to get to three under.

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That elicited a wry response from the 45-year-old after a disagreement with caddie Mark Fulcher over shot selection from 142 yards out, with his bagman standing his ground and ultimately being proved correct.

Two-time Masters champion Scottie Scheffler was also struggling for inspiration, with back-to-back bogeys at the fourth and fifth seeing him slip to two over.

Two groups ahead, however, Brooks Koepka had four birdies and three bogeys in an outward nine of 35 to leave him one under.