By Tony Jimenez TROON, Scotland (Reuters) - American Patrick Reed's decision to spend a week of reconnaissance at the Scottish Open yielded a handsome dividend as he sprinted to the top of the leaderboard early in the British Open on Thursday. Reed finished in a share of 10th place at the Scottish Open and his links experience in the wind and rain of Inverness seems to have proved beneficial. To see the sun I felt like it was a lot easier than what I had to deal with all last week and it kind of allowed me to be a little more aggressive with iron shots into the greens." That did not appear to be the case on the first hole, though, as Reed snap-hooked a four-iron off the tee way left. More...