McDowell opens with 68 at The Heritage

Golf:US Open champion Graeme McDowell completed his opening round at The Heritage the with a three under 68 before the claxon sounded to halt play at Hilton Head in South Carolina.

It was an interesting round for McDowell, the sole Irish player in the field, who picked up six birdies but dropped shots with a double-bogey at the 11 and a bogey at the 14th.

At three-under McDowell was four off the pace set by Garrett Willis before the threat of lightning around the Harbour Town venue caused a stoppage in play.

A late decision to stick with his old putter paid immediate dividends for American Willis as he charged into an early one-shot lead.

The 37-year-old, who had been tempted to switch to a belly putter after struggling on the greens this season, fired a sparkling seven-under-par 64.

Willis birdied six consecutive holes on the front nine and needed just 26 putts to edge one stroke clear of compatriots Chad Campbell, Tim Herron and Matt Bettencourt, plus India's Arjun Atwal.

England's Luke Donald, who will become the fourth world number one in less than six months if he wins this week's event, opened with a 67.

"I'm obviously very excited about putting this well, and having a chance to making the cut for a change," said Willis, who has used the same Scott Cameron model putter for five years.

The American, who won his only PGA Tour title at the 2001 Tucson Open, has made just two cuts in eight events this year and ranks a lowly 177th on the US circuit in putting.

Desperate times called for desperate measures so Willis played practice rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday with a belly putter, and he practised with the same putter before and after breakfast on Thursday morning.

Shortly before teeing off in the opening round, however, he sent his caddie back to the car to retrieve his standard-length "Old Faithful" putter. It turned out to be a good decision.

"I thought, 'This week is the week I'm going to break away, I'm going to do it, I'm going to switch (putters)," said Willis. "I say that almost every week, but I don't have the guts enough to do it. Luckily it (the old putter) paid off (today.)"