STROKEAVERAGE.COM client and Scottish Open winner Graeme McDowell was delighted as he took up where he had left at Loch Lomond Golf Club four days earlier as he ended the first day of the 137th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale Golf Club.

A round of one-under par left him in a three-way share of the lead alongside US Open runner-up Rocco Mediate and Aussie Robert Allenby.

The Ulsterman fired back-to-back birdies on the final two holes to jump up the leaderboard and leapfrog two-time Open Champion Greg Norman, who made light of his 53 years to fire a step-back-in-time level par 70 as some of the world’s greatest golfers ran up big numbers in gusting winds and driving rain on the Merseyside coast.

Graeme McDowell, who honed his wind game on the links of Royal Portrush, was a becalmed personality in the whistiling wind which ripped apart the challenge from the likes of world number two Phil Mickelson, the last golfer to be number one before Tiger Woods – Vijay Singh – and the 2002 Open Champion Ernie Els, who a 79 and two 80s between them.

Graeme McDowell said: I actually feel pretty calm and comfortable. Playing golf in the wind, it's about all flight control, it's about shaping it against the wind, and it's really about understanding how the wind affects the golf ball.

“I think maybe I'm not the best shaper of a golf ball, haven't been in the past, but I think I've got pretty good understanding of how the wind affects shots.

“I'm pretty good at kind of getting into my head what a certain flight is going to do, how much the wind is going to affect it, kind of controlling the gusts, timing your shots a little bit, and certainly that kind of experience is hard to come by, obviously. 10, 15, 20 years’ golfing at Portrush I think stands me in good stead when I come to the British Open.”

The winner of the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea in March, who is all most a shoe in for Europe’s Ryder Cup team in Kentucky in September, is certainly feeling in better shape than he did two years ago after shooting to the top of the leaderboard at Hoylake Golf Club before Tiger Woods blew away the field when the winds failed to materialist at Royal Liverpool in the 2006 Open.

Graeme McDowell added: “I certainly feel like quite a different golfer than I was two years ago, and I didn't really have a whole lot of belief in my game.

“It caught up with me on the weekend. Obviously Tiger kind of left the field in his dust.”

The 27-year-old admitted he lacked belief in his golf swing then, and could not string four rounds together.

But after hooking up with Clive Tucker, who recommends StrokeAverage.com to his golfers to help with their practice and tournament preparation, the Northern Ireland golfer has rededicated himself after the disappointment of missing out on the 2006 Ryder Cup team in Ireland.

The 2001 Walker Cup golfer, who was in the same team as Luke Donald and Open Championship qualifier Jamie Elson, said: “I've obviously been showing some form for the last 10 to 12 months. I've got a lot more belief in my game and what I'm doing.

“I'm certainly a lot more comfortable in this position than I would have been two years ago.”

But the Scottish Open champion knows his work has only just begun in what will be his fifth event in a row, although he denied relying on adrenaline after last week’s victory.

“I realise it's about pacing yourself,” McDowell added. “The golf course is going to certainly cause me some problems over the weekend.

“I mean, it's going to cause everyone problems, so I'm certainly prepared for that mentally. If it keeps blowing like this, it's really going to be a tough, punishing weekend.”

Golf article end.