Rory McIlroy encouraged by opening-round 67 at Irish Open

Rory McIlroy feels there were plenty of positives to take from his first-round display at the Irish Open.

The tournament host, who has missed the cut three years running in the event, briefly held a share of the lead on his way to an opening-round 67 at the K Club.

McIlroy, who has never finished higher than seventh in nine appearances in his home Open, reached the turn in 32 and picked up further birdies at the 10th and 13th before carding his only dropped shot of the day with a three-putt bogey at the next.

Three pars were followed by a final-hole birdie to hand the Northern Irishman outright second, two strokes behind early pace-setter Danny Willett. 

"I thought I played very well, I gave myself plenty of chances," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "Obviously it looks like we got the better of the conditions out there, but it was still tricky with the wind getting up.

"I feel like you still had to go out there and play the shots and I holed a few putts, which was nice to see. I had a little bit of a blip on 14, but apart from that obviously really happy with how I played today.

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"This is still my third week in a row but I feel nice and fresh and coming off a three-week break after Augusta has definitely helped as well.

"I managed myself around the golf course well and five under was a good reflection of how I played."

Masters champion Willett missed the cut by a shot in the Players Championship last week in his first event since Augusta but was in much better form here.

He said: "It was nice coming off a pretty poor week last week, getting here Monday, and trying to get some work done with my coach, and getting everything sorted out.

"This is the first time I have played this golf course and it's just fantastic, every hole's different. There's a few really challenging holes, a few good, fun holes.

"It was a good day. Played some really good golf with some birdies to start with and then started getting hot with the putter.

"A 65 was far beyond my expectations for today, especially after waking up and looking out the window when it was miserable and raining."

Watch the Irish Open throughout the week live on Sky Sports 4 - your home of golf. Live second round coverage begins on Friday from 9.30am.