Home favourite Rory McIlroy produced a late hat-trick of birdies to make an ideal start to his bid for a second Amgen Irish Open title.
McIlroy was in danger of letting a promising round slip away when he bogeyed the 14th and 15th to fall back to level par, but he birdied the last three holes at Royal County Down to record an opening 68.
That represented a 12-shot improvement on his first round the last time the highly-rated course staged the Irish Open in 2015, and left him two shots off the lead held by England's Todd Clements who is on five-under par.
"Any time you can shoot three under around this place you have to be happy," McIlroy, who is well aware that his record as a professional on home soil leaves a lot to be desired, told RTÉ Sport after his round
"The conditions were pretty tough early on and then the wind seemed to settle a little bit those last few holes and it was nice to take advantage of that and play them the way I did.
"Giving those shots away on 14 and 15, to get more than both of them back on the last three holes was a great way to finish and gives me plenty of momentum going into Friday morning.
"It’s nice to get off to a good start [in Ireland] for a change. I enjoyed being out there, the crowds were great and it was great being out there with Tom [McKibbin] as well.
Rory McIlroy starts the first round of the Irish Open with a birdie and helps earn £400 for Make A Wish Ireland. Amgen and the DP World Tour are donating £400 for every birdie carded by the field on the first hole.
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) September 12, 2024
📺Watch: https://t.co/XnOP6grnB7 pic.twitter.com/KTkWneETak
"Really pleased with how I started and hopefully I can continue into the next three days."
Shane Lowry also had a closing birdie to brighten his mood after the round, that shot leaving him on one-over par and six shots back.
The Offaly man had to settle for a starting 72, but that represented a good effort after dropping shots on the second and third and then missing the fourth green.
"Overall I'm happy enough," he told RTÉ Sport.
"Obviously I would have liked to have made a couple more birdies but it’s hard to make birdies out there. Pretty hard to get it close.
"To be honest, I thought I should have birdied a couple of the last three holes. I played them really nicely, 16, 17 and 18.
"One-over is not the end of the world; it’s only four back (at the close of his round) off the leaders. I’ll get out there tomorrow morning and try and get back in red figures for the tournament, that would be the game-plan."
A host of other Irish players made solid starts in the testing surroundings in Newcastle.
It was a case of steady as she goes for 17-year-old amateur Sean Keeling who parred his first 17 holes before signing off in style with a birdie at the par-five closer.
Keeling had altered his putting grip heading into the tournament, and it paid off at the last as he nailed a nine-foot putt to move under par and into a tie for 21st.
Conor Purcell was alongside Lowry on one-over par.
Starting on the 10th, he fell to two-over after bogeys at the 11th and 16th before back-to-back birdies at the 18th and first undid the damage.
He found the semi-rough on the right on the third though, and that led to a 15-foot par putt coming up just short.
Royal Dublin amateur Max Kennedy is alongside Purcell at one-over.
The recent Louisville graduate had an up and down round containing four birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey - at five where he three-putted - but will be confident of making the cut.
Simon Thornton was three under for his first four holes but only managed one more birdie and shipped two doubles on his way to 73 to sit two-over par.
On the same mark was 2007 champion and three-time major winner Padraig Harrington, who made eagle on the par-five first hole (his 10th) but also ran up five bogeys.
Gary Hurley and Seamus Power were a shot further back on three over. Power played his first nine (the back) in two under but dropped five shots coming in while Hurley's round wasn't helped by a double bogey on his penultimate hole.
Tom McKibbin was hit by some early putter problems - his front nine containing four bogeys in all - but he recovered to sit alongside Hurler and Power on three-over while Mark Power has work to do to be around for the weekend as he is on four over.
Additional reporting: PA
