McDowell going well in Wales

Jamie Donaldson was inspired playing alongside defending champion and Ryder Cup hero Graeme McDowell on the European Tour’s return to Celtic Manor today.

Trying to be the first home winner of the Wales Open in its 12-year history, Welshman Donaldson birdied his first three holes and added another on the driveable 15th – his fifth – to be four under par and leading by one.

But McDowell was going well too at the scene of his two triumphs last year, although he did bogey the 16th – the hole where his birdie against Hunter Mahan last October will live long in the memory.

He had eagled the 377-yard 15th and after eight holes was two under and in a tie for eighth place.

Cup team-mate Peter Hanson was the third member of the group and four successive birdies by the Swede from the 13th lifted him to three under and into joint second with England’s Richard Bland, Irishman Damien McGrane, Swede Oskar Henningsson, South African Keith Horne and Australian Daniel Gaunt.

McDowell and Hanson are two of four members of Colin Montgomerie’s 2010 Ryder Cup side in the field. Miguel Angel Jimenez was among the later starters like Montgomerie, but Ross Fisher came back from bogeys at the 12th and 13th with birdies at the 15th, 16th and long 18th, where his long eagle putt stopped just before the cup.

It is a big week for Fisher. At 52nd in the world he tried and failed to qualify for the US Open on Monday, but a move back into the top 50 by the end of next week will get him to Congressional.

Former Open champion John Daly, who like McDowell missed the halfway cut at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last week, bogeyed the 14th and 16th to be two over.

After all the rain that forced the Ryder Cup into an extra day for the first time back in October, there was bright sunshine for the start of the event but everybody was enjoying the conditions.

Portugal’s Jose-Filipe Lima, first man out at 7.25am, triple-bogeyed the long second and was eight over after 13, while ex-Ryder Cup player Niclas Fasth had a quadruple-bogey seven on the third and with seven to play was six over.