Shanghai, China (SportsNetwork.com) - Graeme McDowell opened up with a first- round, 5-under 67 on Thursday and he holds a 2-shot lead at the WGC - HSBC Champions. McDowells last victory on the European Tour came at the Alstom Open de France earlier this year, while his latest PGA Tour win was at the 2013 RBC Heritage. U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, Rickie Fowler, Brandt Snedeker, Chris Kirk, Tim Clark and Tommy Fleetwood are tied for second at 3-under 69 at Sheshan International Golf Club. Lee Westwood, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Adam Scott, Hyung-sung Kim, Bill Haas, Jordan Spieth, JB Holmes, Henrik Stenson, Jaco Van Zyl and Dawie Van Der Walt are all deadlocked at 2-under 70. McDowell, beginning his first round on the back nine, stormed out of the gate to grab the early lead and he never let go despite a couple miscues down the stretch. The 35-year-old from Northern Ireland quickly got into red numbers with a birdie on the par-4 first. Following a pair of pars on 11 and 12, McDowell drained four birdies in a five-hole stretch from No. 13, with a par coming on 15. After making the turn at 5-under with a par on 18, McDowell kept going strong with another par on one followed by a pair of gains on two and three. At 7- under through 12 holes, McDowell finally began to slow down as he dropped his first shot on the par-4 fourth. After a trio of pars from No. 5, McDowell bogeyed his second hole at eight, dropping him back to minus-5. He finished with a par at No. 9 to end there. Kaymer, also playing the back nine first, made the turn at minus-1 after making birdies on 13 and 16 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kaymers second bogey on one dropped him back to even par, but birdies on two and five had him back in red numbers. Kaymer made his third bogey on six, but a pair of birdies on seven and eight got Kaymer to minus-3. He rounded out his day with a par on No. 9. Fowler started off with two straight pars on 10 and 11 followed by another gain on 14. Fowler traded a bogey on 17 for a birdie on 18 to make the turn at minus-3. Birdies on two and eight were canceled out by bogeys on four and seven as Fowler finished his day tied for second at 3-under. Snedeker had a solid front nine with birdies on two and seven. He dropped two shots on the back nine at 12 and 15, but gains on 14, 16 and 18 were good enough to put Snedeker at minus-3 through one round. Kirk made his move up the leaderboard on his first nine with birdies on 10, 14, 16 and 18 to go along with a bogey on 17. Kirk played his final nine at even par with a gain on six and a bogey on five. Fleetwood made the turn at minus-1 following birdies on two and five along with a bogey on six. Fleetwood fell back to even par after a bogey on 10, but he finished strong with three birdies in a four-hole stretch from 13. Clark started off hot with three straight birdies from two, but bogeys on five and seven gave two of those shots back. Another birdie on nine was canceled out by a bogey on 10. Clark then made three birdies in four holes from 13. He also bogeyed 15. NOTES: Of the 80 players to tee off on Thursday, only 27 of them finished the first round under par ... McDowell has 10 top-10 finishes on the European Tour this year, including his win at the Open de France ... McDowells only other victory in Asia came at The Championship at Laguna National in 2008 ... Kevin Stadler and Graham DeLaet both withdrew during their first rounds. Terrell Brandon Jersey . Specifically, thumbs up to the Canadian-based teams in the NHL, or at least most of them. John Henson Cavaliers Jersey . - Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end Jason Babin is now a free agent. http://www.cavaliersbasketballpro.info/customized/. As their best player continued to orchestrate his dramatic exit from the club, the Whitecaps added size and creativity at Thursdays Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Larry Nance Jr. Cavaliers Jersey . The Senators return from a lengthy layoff caused by Wednesdays attack on Parliament Hill to host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night. Matthew Dellavedova Cavaliers Jersey .7 million, one-year contract.The deal, announced Friday, includes a $50,000 performance bonus if the left-hander appears in 60 games.TORONTO -- After missing over three weeks with an infected left foot, Peter Holland finally feels like hes getting back to game shape. Holland setup two goals, including the game winner, as the Toronto Marlies extended their win streak to four games with a 4-2 win over the Binghamton Senators in American Hockey League action Wednesday. It was Hollands first two assists since he was re-assigned to the Marlies by the Maple Leafs last Saturday. "Obviously with a month off there, not playing or practising was pretty tough," said Holland. "Getting back in the first game, timing was a little off, I felt a little better today, in the second one. "(The foot) was very infected and I was in the hospital for about four or five days in a row having an IV and antibiotics. (I was) on crutches for a couple days." Mike Duco scored the winner, giving the Marlies a 3-1 lead at 7:18 of the second by putting a rebound off a Holland shot past Nathan Lawson while crashing into the Senators goalie. "I knew (Duco) was driving the net, the goalie looked like he was cheating over a little bit to the short side, I didnt know if my shot was maybe going to beat him," said Holland of the play. "But I knew Duco was going to be there if he kicked out the rebound." Josh Leivo added an empty netter with 14 seconds remaining in the third. Jerry DAmigo and Kenny Ryan had the other goals for the Marlies (32-17-4). Matt Puempel and Mark Stone scored for the Senators (33-17-4). Drew MacIntyre made 34 saves for his 24th win of the season while Lawson made 26 saves in the loss. After Ryan opened the scoring late in the first, the two teams combined for four second-period goals. DAmigo gave Toronto a 2-0 lead 46 seconds in on a power play, beating Lawson blocker-side frrom the faceoff dot for his 15th of the season.dddddddddddd. DAmigo now has eight goals and three assists in nine games this month. The Senators got on the board 33 seconds later as Puempel one-timed a Stone feed past MacIntyre for his 20th of the season. After Duco gave the Marlies a 3-1 lead, Binghamton pulled to within one before the second was over as Stone tapped in a Puempel feed on a two-man advantage for his 13th of the season. "We took some penalties that were uncharacteristic of us," said Marlies head coach Steve Spott. "The No. 1 criteria or No. 1 goal on our board today was not to take penalties against this team and we did. We paid for it. We allowed them to stay around." Ryan opened the scoring with 14 seconds remaining in the first taking a feed from DAmigo and beating Lawson glove-side for his third of the season. Ryan now has a goal and three assists in two games. The second, and final meeting, between the two teams goes April 16 in Binghamton. Following the game, Spott had a lengthy meeting with the Maple Leafs brass, including General Manager, Dave Nonis. With Dave Bolland potentially nearing a return to the Leafs lineup, Spott is expecting bodies to fall to his club. "It depends, theyre going to have some roster spots that are going to have to open up," Spott said. "David Bolland seems to be coming back in the near future. Hopefully that will have some sort of an affect with the Marlies. Well have to see how that all plays out." Notes: Toronto goalie Christopher Gibson (back) and forward Sam Carrick (upper body) both received medical clearance and will be available to the team Saturday when the Marlies host the Hamilton Bulldogs. If Gibson returns, Garret Sparks will likely be reassigned to the ECHL. ' ' '