England's David Howell showed a long overdue return to form as he shot a 7-under 64 to take the first round lead at the Irish Open on Thursday.The 35-year-old former Ryder Cup player has slumped to 479th in the world after a high of ninth in 2006 when he won the PGA Championship. In the past year he has considered retirement after working as a TV commentator during Major tournaments for which he had not qualified player.
However, he managed five birdies and an eagle at the Killarney Golf and Fishing Club on Thursday to earn a one shot lead ahead of Australia's Richard Green and Ireland's Damien McGrane.
"I never wanted to give up," said Howell. "But it crossed my mind that if I carried on playing as I did last year I wouldn't have a career to be worried about anyway.
"As hard as it was not playing in the Majors when I got into into my head the fact that I had dropped off that level the next best thing was to sit and talk about golf on TV."
Howell had arrived in Ireland with 10 missed cuts on his 2010 record and no finish higher than his 14th at The Open de Espana in April.
But if he felt a stranger being back at the top of the leaderboard it was a different emotion to the players sharing second place, They both felt they were in familiar surroundings.
McGrane, once a professional shop pro and with only one European win in his career could have been overawed when the draw paired him to play with recent two Irish major winners.
But where U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell could only shoot a 1-under 71 and Padraig Harrington a 78, McGrane lifted his game with five birdies in a bogey free 66.
"I would sooner play with friends of mine like Padraig. Some people are tough to play with but he isn
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