Nick Dougherty, without a single top ten finish since last August, reminded everybody of his talent when The 3 Irish Open began in wet and windy Baltray.
Four birdies in six holes around the turn helped the English 26 year old to a six under par 66, a score matched ten minutes later by Scotland's former Open Championship winner Paul Lawrie and then by Finland's Roope Kakko, India’s Shiv Kapur, Jamie Donaldson of Wales and Dougherty's compatriot Robert Rock.
This time last year Dougherty was devastated by his mother's fatal heart attack and after looking a likely Ryder Cup debutant for so long he just missed out on qualifying.
His best finish since then was a 14th place in Australia in February, but after starting on the far tougher back nine he followed six pars in a row with birdies at the 16th, 18th, second and third.
Two more came in the last four holes and he said afterwards: "I think because everyone saw the forecast for the week you expect the worst.
"Apart from the fact that it was very cold at the start it was a pleasant surprise and you feel a bit more positive about what you can achieve.
"I did a lot of work on my short game last week. I've been guilty in the past of just standing on the range hitting balls and you lose sight of what the game's about - getting the ball in the hole."
Level par after eight holes, Lawrie birdied six of the next seven to join Dougherty out in front.
“I played very well. It's pretty much how I've been playing for a while,” he said.
“I was level par through the first eight and could have easily been sort of three or four under and then knocked a few nice 15, 20 footers in about the turn, which kind of got me going.
“I think 6 under was about right. I hit the ball very well, I hit a lot of greens. The wind kind of died a wee bit I think, but I've always felt very comfortable playing that type of golf on that type of golf course. I enjoy it.”
Kakko, in the event thanks to his top ten finish in Italy last week, also reached six under, and Rock and Kapur also signed for a 66 shortly afterwards.
“I definitely received a lot of confidence from that performance. It was really good for me,” said Kakko of his exploits at the BMW Italian Open last week.
“I think the front nine was playing fairly easy today, we all want were very fortunate with the weather. It was quite mild today. The front nine, I got off to a really good start and kept on going on the back nine.”
Rock smashed a putter in anger in Italy last week after a disappointing first round, but admits the new one is working well.
“I didn't play very well but the putter was amazing, really, every putt went in,” he said. “And I've not had a day like that, ever, I don't think I can remember. Who knows where that came from, but it was good, good fun.”
One behind were Scotland's Marc Warren, England’s Lee Slattery, local amateur Shane Lowry, Spain's José Manuel Lara, Julien Clément of Switzerland and Frenchman Thomas Levet.
