McDowell hoping wind will come to his rescue

Graeme McDowell will tee off in his second round at The Open this afternoon hoping for an ill wind to blow across Royal Liverpool and give him a chance to play catch up with Rory McIlroy.

The 2010 US Open champion from Portrush, chasing the second Major title of his career to shed the self-imposed tag of “one-hit wonder”, has plenty of work to do to close an eight-shot gap on first-round leader McIlroy having been left frustrated by his opening two-over 74 in ideal scoring conditions as the wind stayed down during his morning round.

The chief gripe from the man who two weeks ago won the French Open, has been his inability to hit a cut shot, the controlled fade which moves a right-hander’s ball from left to right in flight.