Published Thursday, 03 November 2011
McDowell was among those who carded a three under par 69 (complete with seven birdies) to end the day in joint fourth place.
The former US Open champ will be hoping for no repetition of his performances last weekend at the Andalucía Masters, where he failed to break 80 in the third and fourth rounds.
"It was probably one of the most embarrassing weekends I've ever had in my golf career," McDowell admitted. "Valderrama can do that to you."
But he added that he's feeling more like his old self, after chatting to coach Peter Cowen.
"I've been angrier this year with myself because I want it too much," he explained.
"This game has beat me up this year, there's no doubt about it. It's hard because you're trying to prove things and you're trying to emulate last year.
"We're all very good at punching ourselves when we are down. That's the game."
Holywood's Rory McIlroy started out with a bogey, but slowly worked his way back into things with three birdies and ended on a two under par 70.
"I feel as if I left a lot of shots out there, but 70 isn't a disastrous start," he said.
Darren Clarke finished his first round on one over, carding a 73.
It fell to 25-year-old American Keegan Bradley to set the pace though, continuing his dream first year in big-time golf.
Back in August, he became only the second player in 98 years to win the very first major he played in - the USPGA Championship - and last month, he lifted the PGA Grand Slam title.
He leads the field after a seven under par first round of 65.
Fellow US golfer Bo Van Pelt and Sweden's Frederik Jacobson and Alex Noren follow two shots behind in joint second place.