McDowell gets down to serious business with 69

GOLF/EUROPEAN TOUR AUSTRIAN OPEN:JUST WHEN the lethargy of a month-long lay-off looked to have taken hold, Graeme McDowell wiped the sleep from his eyes and got down to business to get within four shots of the overnight lead on the opening day of the €750,000 Austrian Open.

The US Open champion and fellow Ryder Cup player Miguel Angel Jimenez are the standout names in this week’s less than stellar field. Mind you, tell that to the guys fighting to retain their playing rights for next season and they will gladly accept the €125,000 first prize – and one-year exemption – thank you very much.

For McDowell this week is all about getting rid of the “rustiness” in his game after such a long lay-off. Next week time will be spent with his coach as part of the fine-tuning for a certain team event at Celtic Manor.

The 31-year-old’s return to competitive action couldn’t have started much worse as he picked up a couple of bogeys in his first three holes. He steadied the ship to reach the turn in two over before finally greasing the wheels with no less than five birdies and no dropped shots on the back nine. A game of two halves, no doubt.

“That start was absolutely awful, the swing I made on three was a disaster and it looked it was going to be one of those days,” said McDowell after his three-under 69 to be four off the lead held by little-known George Coetzee from South Africa.

“I hung tough and the back nine here is where you can make a score and thankfully my short game and putting were good so I was able to make a few birdies.

The major winner also had playing partner Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (68) to thank for helping him along the Diamond Country Club layout in Atzenbrugg. “Gonzo played great and sometimes that helps because I was able to slipstream him.

“After the time off it was important to get a card back in my hand and play some competitive golf. I have more time off next week and will do some work with my coach to make sure everything is in good shape for the Ryder Cup.”

Coetzee was an early starter from the 10th tee and immediately hit the ground running. Four consecutive birdies made it the perfect start before another arrived at the 16th, his seventh, and then his only dropped shot of the day came at the ninth to turn in 32.

The numbers just got better on the front side as three birdies in four holes from the fourth set the 24-year-old on his way to an opening seven under 65.

That left Coetzee one ahead of a resurgent Jose Manuel Lara from Spain and Australia's Terry Pilkardaris. McDowell wasn't best of the four Irish players in the field as Damien McGrane (67) left him in fourth on five under.

65 G Coetzee (Rsa) 66 T Pilkadaris (Aus), J Manuel Lara (Spa) 67 D McGrane (Ire)68 J Sandelin (Swe), J Colomo (Spa), C Carranza (Arg), D Lynn, G Fdez-Castano (Spa) 69 C Gane, A Maestroni (Ita), J Parry, G McDowell (Ire), A Coltart, P Edberg (Swe), D Willett, J Quesne (Fra), R Jacquelin (Fra), S Hutsby, A Noren (Swe), S Thornton (Ire), P Golding 70 J-B Gonnet (Fra), J Garcia (Spn), S Hend (Aus), A McArthur, S E Bebb, J-F Lucquin (Fra), S Surry, B Hebert (Fra), S Little, M Schwab (Aut) 71 M Soffietti (Ita), L Claverie (Spa), B Barham, S Drummond K Brink (Swe), S O'Hara, C Rodiles (Spa), P Larrazabal (Spa), O Fisher, G Lockerbie, G Clark, G Molteni (Ita), M Warren, S Struver (Ger) 72 A Nilsson (Rsa), P Baker, J Axgren (Swe), K Ferrie, J-F Lima (Por), M Quiros (Spa), HNystrom (Swe), J Palmer, F Delamontagne (Fra), J Mclean (Aus), M A Jimenez (Spa), T Haylock, A Marshall, R Green (Aus), R Sjoberg (Den), E Canonica (Ita) 73 A Tampion (Aus), L Westerberg (Swe), M Erlandsson (Swe), MIlonen (Fin), R Coles, B Hafthorsson (Ice), S Juul (Den), T Hamilton (USA), F Fritsch (Ger), J Rask (Swe), A Bossert (Swi), R Rock, A Sjostrand (Swe), O Henningsson (Swe), J Backstrom (Swe), D Vancsik (Arg), G Murphy (Ire), D Drysdale, R Kulacz (Aus) 74 P Sjoland (Swe), R Goger (Aut), S Jeppesen (Swe), J Guerrier (Fra), S Lilly , S Ottosen (Den), A Mellor, M Ruiz (Par), K Horne (Rsa), A Forsyth, M Brier (Aut), S Luna (Spa) 75 M Crespi (Ita), A Hogberg (Swe), M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra), J Maurer (Aut), E T Johansen (Nor), D Dixon, P Archer, F Widmark (Swe) 76 J Little, L Nemecz (Aut), S Kapur (Ind), O Whiteley, L Goddard, L Astl (Aut), P Bocian (Swe), U Weinhandl (Aut), N Bruzelius (Swe), C Suneson (Spa), P Lepitschnik (Aut), B Palanszki (Hun), M Tunnicliff 77 N Colsaerts (Bel), J Ruebotham, M Brown (Nzl), C Pfau (Aut) 78 M Wiegele (Aut), K Berger (Ger), M F Haastrup (Den), D Kupper (Ger), P Eales 79 A Butterfield, J Maria Arruti (Spa), M Kramer (Aut), A Bruschi (Ita) 80 M Bothma (Rsa), S Matus (Cze), D Wardrop 81 F Ohlsson (Swe), S Gross Jnr (Ger), A Kleszcz (Aut) 82 M Moser (Aut) 83 J Lagergren (Swe) 88 C Duan (Aut), M Gojcic (Slo).