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Opening Drive

Harrington leads the Irish charge at Quail Hollow

The Dubliner is tied for eleventh place after the opening day of the Wells Fargo Championship.

PADRAIG HARRINGTON HAS every reason to be pleased with his showing on the opening day of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow after he shot a three-under round of 68 to finish in a tie for 11th place.

The Dubliner had just one blemish on his card, a bogey at the par four third hole, picking up four birdies to leave himself five shots off the overnight lead held by American Bill Haas on eight-under par.

What will encourage Harrington most, however, is the manner in which he responded to the dropped shot at the third, rallying strongly with birdies at four, five and eight to breathe some life into a round which was solid if often unspectacular.

Defending champion Rory McIlroy had a much more disappointing return to the North Carolina course on which he shot a final-day 62 last year to win his first PGA Tour title.

Making his first reappearance in America since his implosion at the US Masters, McIlroy scored five bogies in a three-over round of 75, leaving him 11 strokes behind Haas and in grave danger of missing the cut.

The Ulsterman is back out on course at 17.40 Irish time this evening with Harrington commencing his second round ten minutes later.

At the Spanish Open in Barcelona, Peter Lawrie and Shane Lowry have left themselves in excellent positions following yesterday’s opening day.

Lawrie’s round of four-under leaves him in a group of five players who are just a single shot off the clubhouse lead held by Pablo Larrazabal and France’s Romain Wattell, while Lowry is a further shot back on three-under after a blistering start which saw him pick up five birdies in his first nine holes.

Live scoring from the Spanish Open | Live scoring from the Wells Fargo Championship