First round scores

Graeme McDowell vowed not to get carried away after starting his 2017 campaign with a purposeful opening round in the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters.

While Richie Ramsay was leading the Scottish challenge with a four-under 68, McDowell tucked himself into a share of third with a 66 to sit two shots behind early leader Bradley Dredge.

McDowell arrived in Doha ranked 91st in the world and admitting he faced “a long road” back to the sort of golf that produced 10 European Tour titles and four consecutive Ryder Cup appearances.

However, the former US Open champion looked close to his best as he took advantage of unusually calm conditions.

“My expectations were fairly low, I suppose,” said McDowell. “Now that I’ve got off to a good start, I’ve got to keep my expectations in check and not get too far ahead of myself.

“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.”

Dredge enjoyed an eight-birdie card that left him a shot clear of Mikko Korhonen.

Ramsay’s 68 included three birdies in four holes from the 10th while Marc Warren was a shot further back on three-under. Paul Lawrie, a 64 B Dredge 65 M Korhonen (Fin) 66 K Aphibarnrat (Tha), G McDowell, N Kimsey 67 P Dunne, J Lagergren (Swe), J Van Zyl (Rsa), N Elvira (Spa), T Detry (Bel), S Dyson, A Knappe (Ger), R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 T Aiken (Rsa), R Ramsay, A Karlsson (Swe), A Noren (Swe), D Im (USA), D Brooks, C Shinkwin, G Storm, A Wall, S Walker, A Sullivan, C Hanson, T Bjorn (Den), E Els (Rsa), G Bourdy (Fra) former Qatar Masters winner, opened with a 70.

Elsewhere, Jimmy Gunn, the Dornoch exile, secured the largest cheque of his professional career with a second-place finish in the Web.com Tour’s weather-disrupted Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

Gunn finished with a 13-under aggregate, picking up a cheque for $64,800, eclipsing the $62,000 he earned at the 2015 US Open. Gunn had led the field after 36 holes but was overhauled by eventual winner Andrew Landry, on a long final day that required players to contest 28 holes after a series of delays.