Golf - Honda Clasic Update:Graeme McDowell made a solid start in the €4million Honda Classic after carding a two under par 68 to get within three shots of the early lead held by Australian Nathan Green at PGA National in Florida.
Pádraig Harrington had a difficult opening day, and true to his words from yesterday, he endured a "big tough golf course" at Palm Beach Gardens and had to wait until his final hole to record his only birdie of the day.
Having started on the back nine, the three-time major winner dropped shots at the 11th and 16th to turn in 37. Although he stemmed the flow on the front side, eight straight pars were not what the Dubliner was looking for. That said the 38-year-old signed-off with a birdie at the ninth, his 18th, for a round of 71.
McDowell picked up three birdies on the front side - third, sixth and eighth - to turn in 32, but bogeys at 10 and 14 with just one birdie at 13 took some of the shine of his round.
Rory McIlroy got off to a good start to be one-under after four holes courtesy of a birdie at the par five third.
Green enjoyed a flawless round of 65 that contained five birdies, including a final one at the 18th. The 34-year-old leads by two shots from Fiji's Vijay Singh (67) and American DJ Trahan (67) at this early stage.