Graeme McDowell flies high at Austrian Open

Graeme McDowell continued his Ryder Cup preparations by taking the joint lead at the Austrian Open today.

After shooting a 69 in his first round at the Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg, McDowell fired five birdies in his first 15 holes to move into a four-way lead with Andrew Coltart, Spain's Jose Manuel Lara and South African George Coetzee, who needs to finish inside the top 115 to retain his European Tour card for next year.

"At this stage of the season I'm doing everything I can to make sure I'm still on Tour in 2011," said 24-year-old Coetzee, who currently stands 142nd in the Race to Dubai standings and was due out on his second round this afternoon.

McDowell, 31, is competing in his first tournament for four weeks and the Englishman admitted after yesterday's first round: "I made an awful drive at three. I hit the ground two feet behind the ball and it went straight into the middle of a bush.

"But I hung in tough and drove the ball well on the second nine and made a few putts."