G-Mac delighted with start to US Open

Graeme McDowell insisted he was delighted to kick off the defence of his US Open crown with a fine 70 at Congressional.

The Ulsterman produced a very consistent display with two birdies and just a single bogey to put himself amongst the early pacesetters.

"Very happy with the way I played today [Thursday]," he told Sky Sports. "I drove the ball beautifully which is a big key on this golf course - you've got to play it from the fairway to have a chance and I positioned the ball really well.
"I hung in there well and any greens I missed I scrambled well and the only bogey of the day was on one with a gap wedge in my hand out of the right bunker and I plugged it in the front bunker and made five there, but I really hung tough after that and gave myself.
"I gave myself a bunch of chances, I couldn't quite convert - it would have been nice to pick up one of those on 17 or 18 - but dream start and happy with it."
With nine straight pars on his back nine, McDowell produced just the kind of consistent, error-free golf required at a US Open and insists he is relishing the task in hand.
"You've only got to look at the scoreboard today [Thursday], no-one's going crazy, the pins were gentleish today but no-one's really gone that deep," he continued.
"Like I said you've got to drive it great to have a chance to score, but if you do that you can fire at a few pins.
"But as we know this golf course is going to get tougher and tougher and tougher so I'm really pleased with the way I controlled the ball today [Thursday] because I'll need to continue to do that this weekend.
"I feel really, really good this week. There's been a lot of talking about the past and I was really ready to get here and start moving towards the future again.
"It's been a great 12 months and I wouldn't change it for the world, but I'm happy to be here, hand the trophy back and start talking about what I want to achieve in the rest of my career."