Sport

McDowell making hard work of it

GRAEME McDonnell was making hard work of his opening round of the RBC Canadian

Open in Oakville, Ontario last night and was four-over par through 16 holes.

McDowell (right) carded a fine birdie on the second, but that was undone by back-to-back bogeys on six and seven. Further dropped shots followed on 11, 14 and 16 and the 2010 US Open champion will need to card a decent score today if he is to avoid missing the cut.

Brendan Steele held the clubhouse lead on seven-under after the American made the most of clear conditions at Glen Abbey GC by sinking eight birdies in a round of 65, his only blemish coming on the par-four ninth - his final hole of the day.

That put Steele one ahead of compatriots Scott Brown and Matt Kuchar as well as Australian Scott Gardiner, with the trio tied on six-under.

Brown enjoyed a bogey-free round of 66 while the highlight on Kuchar's card was an eagle on the par-five 18th.

Gardiner, meanwhile, sank six birdies in a row between the second and seventh holes, adding another on the 15th before bogeying the next.

Sweden's David Lingmerth was the leading European on five-under, two shots off the pace, while Luke Donald was struggling and was three-over par after 15 holes.

Meanwhile, Simon Dyson produced a bogey-free round to sit among three players tied for the lead on the opening day of the M2M Russian Open at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club near Moscow.

The Englishman, tipped as the pre-tournament favourite, shot a five-under-par 67 that included five birdies yesterday, putting him at the head of the field alongside Swede Rikard Karlberg and China's Liang Wenchong.

It continues a return to form for Dyson, who made just seven cuts in his first 15 events of 2013, but then finished fifth in the Alstom Open de France and tied 12th in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open on his last two appearances to climb to 81st in the Race to Dubai.

"That was as good as I have played for a long, long time," Dyson told europeantour.com.

"I missed one fairway and that was by a yard and then just hit so many quality iron shots.

"It was coming straight out of the middle of the clubface all day and when you are hitting it like that then you just have to enjoy and try to take as many chances as you can."

Dyson's compatriots Matthew Baldwin and James Morrison, Javier Colomo of Spain and Italian Alessandro Tadini all went round in 68 to lie one off the lead.

Jarmo Sandelin of Sweden, who shot 77, managed a hole in one on the 220-yard 16th.