Howell tracked by home brigade

IRISH OPEN:FATE SOMETIMES delivers a strange calling card.

Yesterday, on the sort of day sent from the heavens to make it seem as if this really and truly is God’s own country, with the lake glistening and the imperious MacGillycuddy Reeks seemingly within touching distance, the 3 Irish Open at Killarney – in its new summer-time slot in the European Tour schedule – brought back memories of yore.

“I think Ireland and Irish golf is a winner today,” remarked Damien McGrane, who swept in slightly under the radar – albeit with a top-10 finish in the Scandinavian Masters last week to indicate his wellbeing – to head a stern Irish challenge.

However, David Howell flew in even more dramatically under whatever satellite systems are suppose to track potential winners.

Howell, once upon a time a world top-10 player but nowadays languishing 479th in the world rankings, shot an opening round 64, seven-under, to assume a one stroke lead over McGrane and Australia’s Richard Green after a first round blessed with beautiful weather and which attracted a crowd of 17,812 spectators to the course.

And while there was indeed a feast of birdies (with more than 60 players recording sub-par rounds), nobody came close to tearing it apart.

There were no sub-60s, or anything like it. The Killeen course – immaculately presented – was a fair test which offered sufficient questions to ensure players kept their focus from the first tee to the 18th green.

If defending champion Shane Lowry found the going tougher than most, eventually signing for a 73 that included finishing disappointingly with successive bogeys on the 17th and 18th holes, there was much more pep in the step from the likes of McGrane (65), Darren Clarke (66), Michael Hoey (66), Rory McIlroy (67), Pádraig Harrington (68) and Paul McGinley (68) as they grouped behind Howell. Graeme McDowell opened with a 70, that included a three-putt double bogey on the 11th.

Howell’s return to the top of a leaderboard is long overdue, but nevertheless rather surprising in that he has missed almost as many cuts this season as he has made.

Still, a return to his old coach, Clive Tucker, has been the catalyst for some improvement in recent weeks – tied-38th in the Scottish Open and tied-31st in the Scandinavian Masters after a run of four successive missed cuts – and there was a sense yesterday he has finally turned the corner.

“Golf is very difficult when you are a pro and you don’t know where the ball is going,” he explained of the slump which afflicted him for all of last season when he missed 19 of 29 cuts and only managed one top-10.

“It’s very stressful. It’s pretty nerve-wracking with water left and this and that the other side and you don’t know where the ball is going. It’s a stressful way to earn a living, and it’s been that way for the better part of three years.”

Howell’s return to the form that once had him stare Tiger Woods in the eye and defeat him in the HSBC Champions tournament and which made him a key member of Ryder Cup teams is welcome. How permanent it is, though, remains to be seen. He chipped in once and holed a couple of bombs yesterday.

And, for sure, there will be those tracking him who will head into the next three days knowing this title is still very much in the melting pot.

There is a touch more substance to Clarke’s return to form, for instance. The Ulsterman followed up his win in the JP McManus Pro-Am with a runner-up finish to Edoardo Molinari in the Scottish Open and yesterday continued in that same rich vein of form with a bogey-free round of 66.

“He’s playing very, very well at the minute. He’s on a nice run of form,” remarked McIlroy, who played in the same three-ball as Clarke. “His confidence is up from getting into contention in Scotland. I think he’s happy at the minute. He’s moving home in the next couple of weeks to Portrush. He got the vice-captaincy of the Ryder Cup. He’s just enjoying himself.”

McIlroy, for his part, finished well with three birdies in his closing five holes.

“Definitely a good start and a score to build on. It’s a score that I can hopefully improve on the next three days . . . everyone was talking about it being so easy and how 20-under-par was going to win.

“It’s not as easy as everyone thinks, they can tuck the pins away and put them in awkward positions.

“You had to leave yourself on the right side of the hole, not because they are quick, but because some of the putts can break four, five, six feet because of the undulations,” he said.

And Harrington, who went bogey-free in his 68, was also content. “I’m reasonably satisfied,” he said, adding: “There’s plenty of good form in there, I’m just not getting across the line. Sometimes you find it very hard to win and then all of a sudden the floodgates open and somebody throws you a tournament or something like that and it is easy to win. You just have to stay patient.”

Patience. It’s a virtue which everyone will be seeking over the next three days.