Andalucian Open in Malaga: Former Ryder Cup star David Howell, down from ninth in the world four years ago to his current 408th, gave flashes of his old brilliance when the European Tour finally hit European soil today.
Howell birdied three of his first four holes at the Andalucian Open in Malaga and shared top spot with fellow Englishman Richard Bland.
Conqueror of Tiger Woods at the 2005 HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai, the 34-year-old from Swindon was part of the winning Ryder Cup teams at Oakland Hills and The K Club.
But his career has nosedived since he suffered a series of injuries and he ended last season commentating on the game rather than playing it.
Howell had his first top-20 finish of the season in Morocco on Sunday, however, and was back on a leaderboard at long last this morning.
Irishman gary Murphy also started on the back nine and moved to two under with birdies at his first and third. He was one ahead of Darren Clarke after the Dungannon golfer started brightly but dropped to one under with consecutive bogeys at the 15th and 16th.
Damien McGrane was another to start on the 10th but was two over after 11.
South African Louis Oosthuizen, runner-up to Welshman Rhys Davies at the weekend and trying for a win that could earn him a place in The Masters at Augusta in two weeks, had two birdies in the first three, but in between missed the short 11th and bogeyed.
He dropped another at the 13th but picked up to on the trot immediately afterwards to move to two under.