There is a lot of golf and plenty of ground to be played before Augusta in April, but Graeme McDowell has started brightly in his quest to secure a place at the Masters.
The 2010 US Open winner carded seven birdies en-route to a six under par opening round of 66 on Day 1 of the Qatar Masters in Doha, leaving him just two shots back from leader Bradley Dredge.
GMac goes out in 30 shots.
He means business. pic.twitter.com/Hnn5OiG0MR
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 26, 2017
But he's not the only Irishman who's started well in Qatar. Paul Dunne brushed off his poor final round in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to shoot a five under par 67, sitting in a tie for 6th heading into day two.
For McDowell though, his season-opener is just the start of a journey that will hopefully see him book a place at the WGC Match Play in Mexico in early March, as well as picking up an invite to the opening major of the year.
Earlier this week, he maintained that he won't be putting himself under too much pressure to qualify, saying that "The Masters is not something I'm going to beat myself up about", but it will certainly be his goal for the first part of the season.
Shoot 66, head straight back to the range...
The dedication of a tour pro. pic.twitter.com/srhof1n1xB
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 26, 2017
To earn his invite, he needs to start eating up ground in the world rankings, moving from his current position in 89th into the top 50.
It's a lot of ranking points to collect, but with the Dubai Desert Classic, The Genesis Open and Honda Classic all still to come in the next few weeks, there is wiggle-room for him to improve.
He has until the week before the tournament begins on April 6th to secure his spot, and after an impressive opening round this morning, he's giving himself the early platform to go for it.
