Graeme McDowell has been forced to eat his words at Castle Stuart this week – but the Northern Irishman let his clubs do the talking in round one of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open.

On a tough, boisterous day in the highlands, which led to scores soaring in the strong winds, McDowell harnessed the conditions to good effect and opened his challenge with a two-under 70 to sit a shot behind early pacesetters Scott Hend and Felipe Aguilar who both hit 69s.

McDowell won the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond in 2008 but after the domestic showpiece moved north to Castle Stuart in 2011, his appearances in the championship became limited.

The Portrush man gave the event a miss in 2012 and 2013 and suggested a couple of years ago that the Scottish Open had lost some of its prestige by coming to the “easy” links near Inverness.

McDowell did apologise for his remarks to tournament sponsors and chiefs and after making an impressive return to Castle Stuart yesterday, the former US Open champ held his hands up and admitted he’d got his first impressions wrong.

He said: “It’s a really nice golf course. People are going to say I’m full of s**t having criticised it pretty heavily and now I’m saying it’s good.

“But I’m allowed to change my mind and I like the golf course. I’m enjoying it even though it was tough.

“Coming from a guy who inadvertently criticised the course a couple of years back, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how good the course is. It’s completely different to 2011 and it has been designed for the prevailing wind direction we had today.”

A bogey on the first hole was hardly a disaster – Scotsman Peter Whiteford started with a nine – but McDowell bounced back with a haul of birdies to hoist himself into the leading pack.

He added: “If the wind continues to blow like this it’s going to be a grind and real marathon. It’s going to be important just to hang in there. This was an important score to get me off and running. Being a couple under gives me something to grab on to.”

Triple Major winner Padraig Harrington joined the posse on two-under while Stirling’s Craig Lee recovered from a nightmare start to post a battling 71. The Scot began with a bogey and a double bogey on his opening two holes but repaired the damage with three birdies in four holes from the third.

He said: “I wasn’t quite thinking about packing my suitcase and heading down the road after that start but I knew it was going to be a bit of a slog. I was just delighted to get back to one-under.”

Lee’s fellow Scot, Russell Knox, posted a level-par 72 on his return to his home city and the Inverness exile admitted it was one of the toughest rounds of his career.

He said: “It was like goofy golf and it was almost unplayable. The last hole, for instance, was a terrible set up. 600 yards into a 25mph wind? I didn’t agree with that.”

Glasgow’s Marc Warren started with a one-over 73 while Phil Mickelson, the Scottish Open winner at Castle Stuart in 2013, had to settle for a 76.