Graeme McDowell grew up learning his game on the Causeway Coast and a return home to his mother’s cooking - and a familiarity with the coastal terrain - brought a solid opening round 67, five-under-par, to move into contention in the opening round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open on the Strand Course at Portstewart.
With very little wind and dry conditions, scoring was good - with English duo Oliver Fisher and Matthew Southgate setting the early clubhouse target with 65s, seven-under - but Florida-based G-Mac, down to 100th in the world rankings, used his return to northern shores to invigorate his game.
“We used to play our school matches here but I’ve never played anything of massive consequences here. No doubt, I’ve good memories here and I have played it probably a hell of a lot more than most guys. There’s a certain comfort level,” admitted McDowell.
McDowell, who started on the 10th, recovered from back-to-back bogeys on the 17th and 18th to play error-free golf on his back nine with four birdies - at the second, fourth, sixth and eighth holes - and came home in 32 for a 67 that put him very much in contention.
Pádraig Harrington - showing no ill-effects from his recent elbow injury - and Shane Lowry both shot four-under-par 68s, on a day which Lowry described as "pretty easy" for scoring.
Lowry’s only issue on his front nine seemed to be finding the pace of the slow greens. “I didn’t necessarily hole any putts, gave myself a lot of chances,” he observed of that opening nine. However, he got the pace on his back nine with birdies on the fourth, seventh and ninth, the last of which provoked a fist pump into the air.
“It wasn’t quite happening for me early on, so four-under is a decent score. I can’t complain,” admitted Lowry.
Harrington had a number of untypically poor chip shots, but, for the most part, played well tee-to-green. On the seventh hole he benefitted from having a large gallery when spectators located an errant tee shot in the dunes and, then, getting a free drop because it was plugged as he managed a Par 5 on the hole. “I was quite lucky to get away with that one, it was a good break,” he conceded.
The Dubliner had five birdies and only one bogey in his round, that dropped shot coming on the Par 3 third where what looked a perfect tee shot refused to stay on the putting surface and he then played a poor recovery chip. “I messed up, hit three appalling, misjudged chips,” said Harrington, one of which resulted in that bogey on the third and the other two that turned birdie chances into pars.
