Graeme McDowell enjoyed a welcome return to form at this week's Qatar Masters, the Portrush man shooting 66 in his opening round in the Middle East.
The 2010 US Open winner spoke in the build-up to this tournament about rediscovering the form which saw him land his maiden major, while getting as high as number four ranked player in the world.
And the Ryder Cup star backed it up on the opening day in Qatar as he raced to an early lead, before finishing on six under in a share for third place after posting an impressive 66 in Doha.
Starting on the back nine, McDowell opened with three consecutive birdies, before adding three more to turn on six under par.
GMac goes out in 30 shots.
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 26, 2017
He means business. pic.twitter.com/Hnn5OiG0MR
And the 10-time European Tour winner added another birdie on the second hole, his 11th, to get to seven under par, at that stage, enjoying a four-shot lead on the field.
However, McDowell’s only blemish on his card arrived on his 16th hole, before two final pars saw him take the early clubhouse lead on six under par.
Subsequently, Bradley Dredge from Wales took the outright lead on eight under posting eight birdies en route to an impressive 64, while Mikko Korhonen from Finland also enjoyed a flawless round at the Doha links posting seven birdies in his opening 13 holes, finishing on seven under.
Paul Dunne, meanwhile, was one of the later starters in Thursday's first round and the Greystones man followed up last week's impressive outing in Abu Dhabi with a very polished five-under 67 in Doha.
And Dunne finished the day in a tie for sixth place, one shot behind McDowell and three behind leader Dredge.
Starting on the back nine, Dunne enjoyed a steady start, opening with six consecutive pars, before bursting into life with two birdies in three holes.
Four birdies on the back nine helped Dunne to his five-under-par round with his only bogey coming on his 16th hole, the par-4 seventh.
"First round and tournament of the year and to birdie 10, 11, 12 was a special way to start and certainly got me in a very relaxed frame of mind," McDowell told reporters.
"It was nice to keep building and keep hitting good shots but there is a long way to go. There are lots of good players here and I'll definitely keep the head down and hope to keep playing well.
"It's always been one of those courses that appealed to me on a lot of levels. Conditions being tougher, I typically play tough courses well and to go out and post a low one this morning was a nice start to proceedings.
"I felt good on the greens, my iron play was very good and I got the ball in play mostly off the tee. It's only round one but I liked the way I felt out there."
Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat and England's Nathan Kimsey joined McDowell on six under, also posting 66, while seven players sit three shots off the lead alongside Dunne, including former Irish Open winner Simon Dyson.
