Graeme McDowell one shot off lead at Firestone

Graeme McDowell showed the kind of form that has deserted him all season as he took a share of second place after the opening round at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in Ohio.

The former US Open winner made four birdies to turn in four-under 31 at Firestone Country Club and also birdied the 10th to make it five under. His only bogey of the day came at the par-three 12th when he missed for par from 11 feet, before he made par scores on the last six holes to sign for a four-under 66.

He was later joined on that mark by Jim Furyk before New Zealand's Danny Lee took the outright lead on five under after opening with a 65.

McDowell played to his strengths with some delightful approach shots on a course that was playing hard and fast.

McDowell just missed with an eagle putt from nine feet on the par-five second, and he followed that up with a brilliant approach to the par-four third to make it back-to-back birdies.

His iron play earned him further gains on the sixth and seventh, hitting to four feet on the par-four sixth and holing from inside 10 feet on the short seventh.

After three missed cuts in his last four tournaments, McDowell showed that maybe his fortunes were changing on the ninth hole after a second shot short of the green was followed by a poor pitch that still left him 20 feet from the hole on the edge of the putting surface.

He decided to putt and sank it before playing a great shot into the 10th brought him a fifth birdie of the day.

Shane Lowry’s promising opening round came unstuck over his final two holes as he carded back-to-back bogeys to close with a level-par 70.

The Offaly golfer had birdied the second and the fourth – he started from the 10th hole – to move to two under and within a shot of Fowler but pushed drives on both the eighth and ninth saw Lowry close with a pair of bogey fives.

He had earlier made the perfect start to his round with a 300-yard drive and brilliant wedge from 95 yards for a tap-in birdie on the 10th, but a wayward tee shot at the par-three 15th would bring his first bogey and a return to level par.

Lowry got back under par with a great third shot to six feet on the par-five 526-yard second before sinking a 15-foot putt on the fourth to get to two under.

Sergio Garcia’s hopes of improving on his runner-up finish from last year suffered a massive early blow in the opening round.

Garcia equalled the course record with a stunning second round of 61 at Firestone 12 months ago, making birdies on his last seven holes to complete the back nine in just 27 shots.

However, the Ryder Cup star needed nine shots just to complete one hole yesterday to cover the back nine in 38 and slump to three over par in pursuit of his first World Golf Championship title.

Ideal start

Starting from the 10th, Garcia made the ideal start with a brilliant approach to set up a birdie from three feet and also picked up another shot from 10 feet on the next.

Bogeys on the 14th and 15th dropped the Spaniard back to level par but far worse was to come on the par-five 16th, where he found water with his approach, missed the green with his fifth shot and eventually three-putted for a quadruple-bogey nine.

To his credit Garcia bounced straight back with a birdie from 12 feet on the 17th to turn in three over, before birdies on the second, fourth and sixth got him back to level par. A bogey-five on the eighth hole saw him sign for a one-over 71.

Pádraig Harrington carded a two-over-par 72, his only birdie coming with a 32-foot birdie putt on the 18th after starting his round on the 10th hole.