DAVID Howell says that he is delighted to in one-under par after a tricky opening round at the NH Collection Open in Cadiz, Spain.

Torrential rain and lightning forced the officials at the course to delay all tee times yesterday by nearly three hours.

With strong winds blowing across the course, the 38-year-old said he was pleased with how the day went.

“I was absolutely shattered after that round,” Howell told the Adver. “The wind was howling, it poured down overnight and then we had lightning which forced the delay.

“I haven’t seen the forecast for the rest of the week but this was supposed to be the worst day.”

Howell said that the wind made life difficult on the greens as his birdies on the 10th, 11th, 15th and 17th were countered by bogeys on the 12th, 14th and the first.

The Broome Manor pro is expected to tee off around 3pm this afternoon, but Howell doesn’t expect that he will be able to complete his second round until tomorrow morning.