McDowell feeling at home in Orlando as monster putt lights up round

Graeme McDowell turned on the Orlando magic, holing the longest-ever putt of his PGA Tour career on the opening day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

McDowell placed a second shot to 75-feet at the par five sixth hole and then holed the eagle putt on route to a four under par 68, and on a course just some 20 minutes from his Lake Nona abode.

But despite McDowell’s stroke of brilliance it left the double Bay Hill runner-up six shots behind Australia’s Adam Scott, who warmed up for next month’s Masters defence with a sizzling 10-under par 62.

It was Scott’s equal lowest PGA Tour score and equalled the course record last set in 1984 by the Aussie’s boyhood hero, Greg Norman.

McDowell’s round began with a bogey when he took three shots to get down from 50-feet at the first.

However the World No. 15 soon got into his stride with birdies at three and five before racing to three under par with the eagle at sixth.

McDowell then posted five straight pars ahead of birdies at 12 and 13 before a second bogey at 16 and closing with two pars.

“It was a good day’s work apart from a clumsy bogey on 16 but other than that, I cleaned up well around the greens along with that bomb at number six,” he said.

“I remember holing one very similar two years ago when I played in the last round with Tiger (Woods) but then Kenny (Comboy) my caddy is saying this one was longer, as he paced that today off at 25 yards.

“So that’s nice when those drop but the key to this golf course is hitting it in the fairway and as the greens get firmer and firmer, and with Kenny also making the observation today that it looks as though they got a lot of their front pins out of the way today.

“So I imagine now as the week goes on, scoring will get tougher and tougher.”

Pádraig Harrington walked from the course with a score of 70 and delighted with his bunker play, and none better than at the last.

The triple Major Champion, who needs to win one of the three PGA Tour events to extend a 14-year unbroken Masters appearance run, was in a fairway bunker down the left side of his 18th hole but after playing a six-iron he then found a greenside bunker, from where he drew much applause in splashing out to just a foot.

“I was really pleased in being able to get up-and-down well today, and out of the bunkers, as evident there in my last hole,” the Dubliner said afterwards.

“I was happy with that aspect of my play while my putting was pretty good, apart from missing a short putt on six.

“However seeing Adam shoot a 62 I could go out there today knowing there was a good score, given it was a good day for scoring.

“The greens were a little soft after all the rain they’ve had here, so you could attack the flags.”

Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa had moved into second place with a round of 65 late on the first day of the $6.2m event and in the 22-year-old’s brightest Stateside opening score in more than four years.