Asian Open update:One week after Greame McDowell found form to finish runner-up in China the Portrush pro could only muster an opening 73 at the BMW Asian Open to lie seven shots off the early pace set by France's Raphael Jacquelin.

The Frenchman carded no less than seven birdies with just one dropped shot at the sixth before signing for a six under 66 at the Tomson Shanghai Pudong GC to be one ahead of Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen.

Damien McGrane is best placed of the Irish contingent at this early stage as his two under 70 leaves the Meath professional tied 12th. McGrane enjoyed four birdies in six holes on the front nine but a double bogey six at the 16th proved costly.

McDowell, who is currently tied 50th, had a fairly uneventful round with a solitary birdie at the seventh surrounded by two bogeys at the sixth and 12th.

Gary Murphy (73) was a shot further back from McDowell and one ahead of Peter Lawrie (74).

Colin Montgomerie hopes a strong performance this week will provide a much-needed boost to his spluttering season - but the Scot refused to get too carried away after a bogey-free opening round of 69.

After starting the season with four top-20 finishes on the European Tour,  Montgomerie went on to endure a torrid time in America and came into this tournament on the back of a missed cut at the Masters.

However, the 43-year-old felt a return to the scene where he finished in a tie for third last year would boost him.

"I always feel I can compete," said Montgomerie, who is three shots behind Jacquelin.

"I hadn't been playing well and had a poor month in America.  I played 12 rounds there, not one of which was under par, and that was very disappointing. But I came here again thinking 'Okay I did well here last year so let's see if I can do it again this year.

"But it's just a decent start. You can't win it on Thursday, you can only lose it and there are a few people that lost it today because of the difficult conditions.

"I haven't, which is good, and I'm in a position where a good round tomorrow will set me up for a half-decent weekend, so we'll see. But I thought I played well today"

Paul Casey, on the other hand, opened with a level-par 72 after his preparations were disrupted by a missing suitcase that is due to arrive in Shanghai tomorrow.

Jacquelin, who led last week's Volvo China Open after two rounds before fading away over the weekend, has yet to decide how he will approach his second round after firing seven birdies and a bogey in his opening effort of 66 to lead Kjeldsen by one.

"It's always good to shoot low in the first round as it takes a bit of the pressure off and you can relax a bit," said the Frenchman, who also finished second in Portugal at the start of April.

"But I'm going to wait to see how strong the wind will be tomorrow. It will make a big difference to the way I play the holes."

Ernie Els, who arrived in China late after the Heritage tournament in South Carolina overran into Monday, was satisfied to still be in touch after posting a one-under-par score of 71.

"I saw the leaderboards as I went out but it's the first round and I just didn't want to shoot myself out of it," said the South African star, who also missed the cut at the Masters.

"I had some chances. I could easily have been three under and missed chances coming in but we have three days left and I have to keep going."