Rory McIlroy admitted his opening-round two-under-par 70 at the Irish Open "could have been better", but the tournament host saw enough positives in his game to believe he will be in the mix for a second title in three years.
McIlroy earned a memorable triumph at the K Club in 2016, his maiden Irish Open success, but missed the cut in Portstewart 12 months ago.
He's three shots off Kiwi leader Ryan Fox heading for Day 2 in Ballyliffin despite some inconsistency on the greens. McIlroy however, insists that's an issue he can iron out.
"I wouldn't say I deserved better, but it could have been better," he told RTÉ Sport.
"I hit the ball very well, I gave myself a lot of chances which is what you need to do around here. You need to put the ball in play off the tee.
"I was able to do that a lot better than I have done the last couple of weeks. That's a huge positive. I just need to hole a few more putts, see a few more drop and hopefully that'll give me a bit of momentum."
We need your consent to load this Facebook contentWe use Facebook to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
McIlroy and defending champion Jon Rahm are the only two players in the field currently in the world's top ten.
Spaniard Rahm has work to do to make the weekend after carding a two-over 74, and McIlroy will have to polish up his putting to claim glory in Donegal.
"I wouldn't say it's been a problem. I've putted well at periods this year. There's just been times I haven't held that many. I feel like I've holed my fair share this year. I need to try and be a little bit more consistent.
"I feel like I've made some great steps in the right direction. I'm only three behind. if I can hit the ball similar to what I did today and get a few more to drop, I should be right in it."
Of the rest of the Irish, Padraig Harrington carded an opening round four-under-par 68 to get his Irish Open bid off to an impressive start.
Graeme McDowell and Colm Moriarty are both on one-under, with Simon Thornton, Ruaidhri McGee and Shane Lowry another shot back on level par.
Paul McGinley, Paul Dunne and Gavin Moynihan are one-over, Cian McNamara is four-over and Neil O’Briain is two shots worse off on six-over.
