China Open: An eagle at the last moved Graeme McDowell right into contention at the Volvo China Open this afternoon, a one-under-par opening round of  70 leaving him just two shots off the lead.

McDowell has had a mixed start to the season, a fourth place finish in January's Qatar Masters his best result to date, and was one of only 14 of the 156-strong field to break par as blustery conditions, combined with deep rough and firm greens, made low scoring difficult at the Shanghai Silport Golf Club.

His eagle at the par 5 last left him in a group of 11 players at one under par, two shots behind co-leaders Raphael Jacquelin and Ming-jie Huang.

Damien McGrane can also feel pleased with his first round, a level par 71 keeping him in touch, while Peter Lawrie (one-over) and Gary Murphy (three-over) are certainly not out of the running.

Local hope Huang, and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin managed to hold their nerve for three-under-par 68s with American Gary Rusnak alone in third after a 69.

Jacquelin continued the good form he showed in finishing second behind amateur Pablo Martin-Benavides on his last outing at Estoril, where he also had to contend with blowy conditions.

"It was less windy than in Portugal and I'm okay into the wind. I'm able to get it low when I want and I'm able to get it high when I want," said the 32-year-old, who hit five birdies and two bogeys.

"It's always nice to be in contention and I'm feeling pretty confident at the moment, I've got a good feeling with my swing and I'm putting pretty well."

Thomas Bjorn, fresh from competing in the Masters at Augusta last week, also admitted it was hard work grinding out a score of 70 to sit level with McDowell on one under par.

"It is almost that difficult to hit the fairways in these conditions that you are better off hitting a driver and getting as close as you can to the green, even if it lands in the rough," he said. "Then you can try and hit the middle of the green and two-putt. That was the strategy today."