Thursday 5 October 2017 14:30, UK
Richard Boxall reflects on an encouraging start to the week for Rory McIlroy and reviews the action from the opening round of the British Masters.
McIlroy was a great addition to the field and seems to be playing okay. There were a couple of putts he missed and a couple of drives went to the right, but other than that I thought he didn't look to bad at all.
I think a three-under 67 is a score you have to take any time you go out and play, so he is in a good position heading in to the rest of the week.
McIlroy will have an afternoon tee time on Friday, which avoids the worst of the weather, so it wouldn't surprise me if he went out and knocked it around in 65 or so.
People have complained that McIlroy's season hasn't been good enough, but when you look a little close it hasn't been that bad really. He may not have won an event in 2017, but he has been pretty consistent and delivered some decent performances.
The scoring was quite low for the opening round because they were using preferred lies, which makes a big difference. We may see that in operation on Friday too if the rain comes again.
George Coetzee was excellent and shot a 63 to top the leaderboard, only for Tyrrell Hatton to sneak up alongside him late in the day.
Hatton is a real talent and someone who I fancy may get in to the Ryder Cup side at Le Golf National next year, so to get to seven under is a great start.
Watch the British Masters throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf. Live coverage continues on Friday from 9.30am.
