SWINDON’S David Howell suffered a tough first day at the Irish Open as he carded a six-over-par 77 to leave him in serious danger of making the cut for a second week running.

After missing the cut at the PGA Championship at Wentworth last week, the Broome Manor pro had five days of rest before heading to Northern Ireland with his family in tow.

However it was a day to forget as the difficult Royal County Down course took its toll on the 39-year-old.

With world number one Rory McIlroy having gone out before Howell and scoring a nine-over-par 80, the Swindon golfer would have been under no illusions how tough the course was.

Howell made a steady start with pars on the opening three holes but dropped his first shot of the round on the par three fourth.

Two more pars got Howell back on track before a run of three bogeys on holes seven, eight and nine left him going out with a four-over-par score of 39.

Things did not get easier for Howell on the back nine after he picked up another dropped shot on the par-five 12th.

A further shot was left on the course when he bogeyed the par-four 15th before it was a case of damage limitation for Howell as three pars saw him come home with a a score of 38.

Howell will tee off in Newcastle at 8.40am tomorrow as he looks to climb back up the leaderboard, having finished the day in tied 127th.