Rory McIlroy will be battling to play the weekend at the Australian Open after a first round 72 left him in a tie for 57th place.
McIlroy finished on one over par, putting him seven shots behind the leading trio of Carlos Ortiz, Ryan Fox and home player Elvis Smylie.
"I need to putt better," said McIlroy after a mixed day's work.
"Holed some good ones. I think I was better from outside 25 feet than I was from inside five, so work on that a little bit. I made enough birdies, but I just need to limit the mistakes a little bit.
"It was good to get one round done and not feel like I'm too far back.
"The greens are getting firm. It was a good thing they didn't cut them today, it would've been unplayable.
"I felt like I could have shot under par or shot something in the 60s, but it doesn't look like anyone's going to get too far away today.
"So I limited the damage and hopefully conditions are a little better over the next few days."
Starting on the 10th, the co Down man mixed three birdies with three bogeys in his first seven holes to reach the turn in 37.
The up and down nature of his round continued on his back nine with two birdies and two bogeys on his first four holes after the turn, before another dropped shot on the seventh - his 16th - saw him sign for a 72.
With the top 65 making the weekend, McIlroy will need to cut out the bogeys if he's to stick around at Royal Melbourne, which is hosting the event for the first time since 1991.
Additional reporting: Reuters
