Rory McIlroy opens with a bogey-free 67 at Turkish Airlines Open
Friday 30 October 2015 15:23, UK
Former world No 1 Rory McIlroy believes he can take plenty of positives from his start to the Turkish Airlines Open, where he dug deep to post a bogey-free opening round in Antalya.
McIlroy feels his putting has been holding him back since he returned to action from a seven-week injury lay-off during the summer, but he produced a much-improved display on Thursday to card a five-under 67 in scoring-friendly conditions.
A chip-in birdie at the 11th was followed by a number of missed chances along the back nine, before a wayward drive at the 18th left McIlroy needing to play a left-handed pitch from the base of a tree to save an unlikely par.
His fortunes improved after the turn at Montgomerie Maxx Royal, following a two-putt birdie from the back of the first green with back-to-back gains from the third before picking up another stroke at the seventh to stay within five of early pacesetter Jaco Van Zyl.
"I felt that my game together on the back nine, which was our front nine on the course," McIlroy told Sky Sports 4. "I was trying to find my rhythm a little bit over the first few holes and then made a good par save on 18, which gave me a lot of momentum going on to the front nine.
"I've been hitting the ball well in practice and putting a bit better, so it was just a matter of trying to take what I've been seeing in practice out on the course and for the most part I did that.
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"If you play well on this course, then you've got the five par-fives and you've got some others you can pick up shots on, so I think you're looking at the 67 or 68 range before you even go out to play.
"I hit a lot of quality shots on the front nine, gave myself a lot of looks and held some putts, so overall I was pretty pleased about everything today.
McIlroy is a two-time winner on the European Tour's Order of Merit but comes in to the Final Series less than 275,000 points ahead of Danny Willett on this year's Race to Dubai.
A frustrating second half of the year has seen McIlroy lose his status as world No 1 after a spell out through injury and fail to add to his three early-season victories, although the 26-year-old is confident on finishing the campaign strongly.
"Coming in to these three weeks, the main thing was to win the Race to Dubai," McIlroy added. "I'd like to win a tournament first and foremost, try and get another win under my belt this year, and it would be nice to go to Dubai with another win.
"I feel like I've set myself up for a good three days to have a run at it this week."
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