NEWPORT, Wales: Graeme McDowell returned to the scene of two great successes to start the defense of his Wales Open title with a four-under-par 67 at Celtic Manor here Thursday. Last year the course saw Northern Ireland's McDowell, as well as winning the Wales Open, hole the winning putt that gave the European team a Ryder Cup victory over the United States. McDowell goes into the second round in a share for sixth place, three shots off pacesetter Keith Horne. After his opening 64 the South African leads by one shot from McDowell's Ryder Cup teammate Peter Hanson of Sweden with Steve Webster, Alvaro Velasco and Paul Broadhurst a further shot back in third. Hanson had eight birdies to Horne's seven, but there were also bogeys at the 13th and eighth on his card. Horne, 289th in the world, did not turn professional until he was 25 and it was only last year that the Durban golfer, 40 next week, kept his European Tour card. Ross Fisher and Miguel Angel Jimenez are the other two members of last year's European Ryder Cup side taking part. Fisher, who Sunday needs to be back in the world's top 50 from his current 52nd if he is to play in the US Open had a level par 71, but Jimenez managed only a 73. The Spaniard was paired with captain Colin Montgomerie, but four days after his first top-10 finish for almost three years - seventh in the BMW PGA Championship - the 47-year-old Scot was twice in the water over the closing stretch and signed for a 77.
