Graeme McDowell singled out playing partner Shane Lowry for praise after the Irish duo superbly dovetailed on the opening day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in suburban Orlando.
McDowell capped his round in holing a 16-footer for eagle on 16 in a round of a four-under par 68 while Lowry, and with three birdies in a row near the turn, signed for a 70.
McDowell headed to the clubhouse in third place and three shots behind Spain’s Rafa Cabrera-Bello who carded a five-under 67 in the Euro 8.47m event.
“It was cold early one and with both sides of this golf course kind of a tough start and I bogeyed the second and I got a mud ball on three, and also getting a bit lucky, as my second shot hit the rocks, came back out, and I made bogey,” said McDowell.
“I then managed to make a few putts and that kind of steadied the round a little bit.
Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell dove-tail to shoot 70 and 68 on day one of the 2019 Arnold Palmer
“I didn’t drive the ball very well last week at Honda and managed to straighten that out a little bit today.
“It’s really important that you hit fairways this week here at Bay Hill as the rough is pretty lush and with the greens being so firm you just have zero control unless you’re in the fairway.
“So, the big key today was getting the ball in play and my iron play was pretty sharp after that and I made some putts too.
“The great thing also was the paring with Shane. We were able to feed off each other, which was nice. He got it going early and I followed him.”
McDowell had taken three shots from the front of the green at the par-3 second hole in a bogey and found himself at two-over in dropping a shot at the third.
G Mac, and who resides just a 30-minute drive from the course, then found forward gears in holing a 6-footer for birdie at the fourth while he holed a 11-footer for a birdie at the Boomerang-shaped par-5 sixth hole to get back to level. He then drained a 14-footer on eight to make the turn at one-under and just a shot behind Lowry.
McDowell superbly drew level with Lowry in sinking a super 21-footer for birdie on 10 ahead of the fireworks in eagling the 16th among seven inward pars.
Lowry bogeyed his first in taking three shots to get down from just off the green at the first and then found himself at two-over in missing the green at the par-3 second.
The World No. 45 then knuckled down to hole a six-footer for birdie at the third and then got up-and-down from a greenside bunker on sixth to also hole a six-footer.
Lowry then brilliantly birdied the par- 3 seventh from 25-feet and stormed his way to two-under in draining a 10-footer at eight for a fourth birdie of his round.
He then birdied 11 from six feet, bogeyed 12 but got back the shot with a five-foot birdie gem on 13 ahead of three straight pars but with Lowry leaking his 18th hole second shot into the left rough and ending with a bogey ‘5’.
