SWINDON’S David Howell was content not to have derailed his Turkish Open challenge following the first day after illness troubled him in Antalya.

The 38-year-old went down with a bug in the lead-up to yesterday’s round and was always going to find it tough to produce his best golf.

A three-hour delay due to morning storms and darkness in late afternoon meant that the majority of the 78-strong field did not complete their opening 18.

Howell made it through 13 holes and was one-under-par at the time, leaving him tied-50th at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal.

“My tales of woe can get tiring but I was ill through the night and woke up in the morning and felt absolutely dreadful,” said Howell.

“The three-hour delay didn’t do me any harm as I was in the wars, a bit run-down and jaded.

“With all that in mind one-under was OK. I didn’t play great but I didn’t do any real damage without doing anything well.

“We could have done some serious damage feeling as poorly as I did, but the day went by without anything really negative happening.”

The two-time Ryder Cup winner is hopeful that he will be feeling refreshed when he resumes his opening 18 today.

“If we can have a strong finish (this morning) then maybe we can get round in 69 or 70,” he said.

“I’d imagine I will feel better having got 12 hours’ rest and I will be ready to play a round and a half.”

Currently heading the field on seven-under are Paul Casey (14), Darren Fichardt (14) and Steve Webster (12).

“I really thought you've got to get off to a quick one and I did exactly that," said Casey.

“It was foot flat to the floor today and just fire at the pins, take advantage of the soft conditions and see what happens.”

World number one Tiger Woods made an indifferent return to action as he played in his first competitive event for a month.

The American reached one-under after 10 holes and looked particularly rusty off the tee.

The 14-time major winner missed a string of fairways and found himself six shots off the blistering pace set by Casey, Fichardt and Webster.