Strong start for Irish contingent at British Masters

Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell got in some perfect preparation for representing Ireland at next month's World Cup of Golf by firing matching 68s in the opening round of the British Masters at The Grove in London.

The pair will team up in Melbourne in November to don green polo shirts and both will draw encouragement from their good play alongside each other on Thursday.

A slow start from Lowry saw him slip back to one over with a bogey at the seventh but he quickly recovered with a birdie at the next before a back nine rally.

Birdies at the 10th and the two par fives – the 15th and the 18th – helped him to a three under par opening round of 68 to lie joint 10th, two shots behind leaders Richard Sterne, Mikko Ilonen, Marc Warren and Tommy Fleetwood.

The Offaly man is joined on that mark by McDowell who started quicker but stuttered a little on the back nine.

Birdies at the second and fifth had the 2010 US Open champion off to a flyer.

A further birdie at the 10th moved him towards the top of the leaderboard before a bogey five at the 11th halted his progress.

However the 37-year-old came back to birdie the 15th and par his way in for a round of three under par.

Meanwhile, 2014 Ryder Cup winning captain Paul McGinley showed he can still mix it at the top level with a round of 70 in which he will rue not taking advantage of the par fives.

None of the Dubliner’s birdies came at the three long holes and indeed the par five second yielded a bogey six.

For Michael Hoey the horrific run of form that has seen him fail to make a cut since the Scottish Open in July looks like continuing as he opened with a four over par round of 75.

The five time European Tour winner’s hopes of retaining his card for next season are diminishing quickly and he’ll need a minor miracle tomorrow just to make the weekend in London.

Meanwhile, Lee Westwood found inspiration in past performances as he looked to put his Ryder Cup disappointment behind him with a second victory in the British Masters.

Westwood feels he let down good friend and captain Darren Clarke after failing to win any of his three matches as Europe suffered their heaviest defeat for 35 years at Hazeltine. The former world number one then followed that disappointing performance by missing the cut in last week’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, thanks largely to a second round of 82 at Kingsbarns. However, Westwood was back to something approaching his best at The Grove, carding six birdies and two bogeys in a four-under-par 67.

“I’m really pleased, it’s the best I’ve played in quite a while,” said Westwood, who will succeed Luke Donald as tournament host next year, with Close House in Northumberland expected to be announced as the venue shortly.

“My driving has not been great but I drove it really well today, didn’t miss a fairway, and gave myself a lot of chances. I’ve been working on a couple of things on the swing, looking at old videos when I was getting in good positions.

“It’s a swing thought I’ve used for 20 years, just set my right arm a bit faster and a little bit better and it gives me a bit more room on the way down.

“Probably the only poor shot I hit was on the seventh, when Billy (Foster, his caddie) told me left of the green wasn’t good and I managed to hit it there anyway.”

Tournament host Donald struggled to a six-over-par 77, while Masters champion Danny Willett was forced to withdraw before starting his round, the 29-year-old suffering from the recurrence of a back injury.

Willett, who did not win a point on his Ryder Cup debut at Hazeltine, wrote on Twitter: “Very disappointing WD earlier. Very sorry to everyone, tried to warm up but body wouldn’t let me move properly.”

There was better news for former Ryder Cup star Jose Maria Olazabal, who carded a 73 in his first competitive round since missing the cut in the Masters last April.

Olazabal, 50, admitted he hit “rock bottom” last December as be battled rheumatoid arthritis, but also hopes to play next week’s Portugal Masters before a possible career on the Champions Tour.