Call it a stubborn streak that anyone from north of the Liffey is allowed to possess, or a simple increase in confidence, but one shot at the 13th hole yesterday typified how Philip Walton's luck is changing for the better.

You miss the fairways on this course at your peril. Rough that once upon a time was of the untidy garden variety has developed into the sort that wouldn't look out of place in the jungle. So, when Walton's tee-shot on the dog-leg par four ploughed into the long stuff, it seemed that his only option was to lay-up.

Wrong. Instead, with a bravado of old, Walton decided to, as he put it, "have a cut." As soon as he hit the ball, it seemed like a bad call. The ball headed straight for one of the beautiful copper beech trees that populate the course but, miraculously, it whistled through the leaves and he went on to escape with a par.

Walton proceeded to follow up his top-10 finish in Ballybunion last week with an opening round of three-under-par 69. "It's just starting to happen for me," he continued, "and my confidence is certainly up on what it was. Am I playing as well as I know I can? Not yet, I know I have more in me, but I'm getting there."

In fact, Walton's body language told its own tale yesterday. He was utterly relaxed, acknowledging the presence of well-wishers behind the ropes as he went about his work. Even a "horrendous lie" just off the first green, which cost him a bogey, didn't deflect him from the challenge and he "nailed everything" for much of the round afterwards.

Admittedly, the putter that went cold on him on occasions last week repaid some of its debt. Some long putts - from 15 feet for birdies at the second and fifth, and from 20 feet at the seventh and 14th for par and birdie respectively - helped him along the way to a position beside Paul McGinley as leading Irishman after the first round.

Elsewhere, there weren't too many good vibes from Darren Clarke. He shot a level-par 72 that promised so much better and remarked afterwards: "I'm making mistakes all over the place, really silly mistakes. I'm just not having a great time on the golf course at the moment."

Padraig Harrington wasn't too happy either. He has spent the past few days on the range with this coach Bob Torraance doing some technical work on his swing. "I've been working very hard, hitting a lot of shots - but that's not great for the overall tempo. However, this is work that I know I have to do: the day you stop working on your game is the day you go backwards. It has to be done, and it is just a pity that it has to be done during a tournament week."

Harrington actually birdied two of his opening three holes, but failed to register another birdie for the rest of his round. "I spent too much time looking for the bad shots, and not enough focusing on the good ones," he remarked. He finished with a 73 and was joined on that mark by tour rookie Gary Murphy.

Des Smyth, meanwhile, birdied two of the final three holes to finish on level par.