McDowell back to his best with 64

GOLF:FOR A few benign, picture-perfect hours in the Highlands, there was a genuine possibility of scoring getting ludicrously low in the second round of the Scottish Open. In what will have proved no surprise to anyone familiar with the climate – and the routine conditions around the course – the elements subsequently fought back.

An inclement afternoon involved a two-hour stoppage in play as a storm battered the eastern outskirts of Inverness. The picture, by that stage, was rather grim. By the time the klaxon to remove players from the course sounded again shortly after 6pm, worst fears about the Scottish “summer” playing an unwelcome part in proceedings were realised. Play was abandoned for the day. But the only inconvenience to Graeme McDowell during that break was that he had to move from the practice range on to a physiotherapist’s table for a well-earned massage.

Luke Donald, Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie were included in the batch of players whose afternoon’s work was complicated by a temporary halt in play. Westwood’s inability to recapture his eye-catching form of Thursday highlighted how, in this game, the draw can mean everything. The leaderboard for round two looked set by lunchtime. Within those top eight scores, the highest for the day was 68, with two of that group – McDowell and Paul Lawrie – signing for 64s.

McDowell’s gradual return to prominence is as notable as it is timely with the British Open edging into view. The same could be said of Pádraig Harrington, who along with Justin Rose and America’s world number eight Matt Kuchar were handily placed at eight under.

McDowell has found himself eclipsed by his young compatriot Rory McIlroy this season as the US Open title simply changed Northern Irish hands.

As a past winner of this competition, McDowell was always likely to pinpoint a visit to Scotland as the ideal juncture to kick-start his 2011. But by the 31-year-old’s own admission, his move back from the spotlight amid McIlroy’s meteoric rise has not proved much of a hardship. Being a major title holder carries its own troublesome demands.

“I feel quite fresh in mind,” McDowell said. “It’s tough; I shouldn’t be complaining about the burden of being US Open champion. I had a great 12 months and played some great golf but it had a negative side to it in the last few months leading up to this year’s US Open.

“I really wanted to push on with my game and didn’t really feel like I could. It was like I was spending all my time living in 2010 again. So it has been great. There’s another Northern Irishman to take all the attention off me, as well. I’ll let him handle that next week and I’m very happy just to push on with my game, keep working hard, get back winning tournaments and playing well again.”

With his two-round, 11-under-par total in mind, it is hardly the shock of the century that McDowell is effusive in his praise of the Scottish Open’s latest venue. “If we had been coming to a brutal test here, a Carnoustie or one of the really, really tough tests, I think in a way you’d be mentally worn out,”

McDowell explained, with another glance towards next week at Royal St George’s. “I think they have the balance just right. This is a nice, straightforward links course. Links golf without wind is generally pretty low scoring. Is that a bad thing? I don’t think it’s a bad thing for the guys. There’s fans, plenty of them, out there to watch us play good golf and we are certainly giving them that.”

In a further boost to the galleries, two Scots sit alongside McDowell. Scott Jamieson and Peter Whiteford carded 66s, leaving the trio a shot ahead of Jose Manuel Lara.