• Irish Open, Round One

McIlroy rues late mistake as McDowell struggles

Graeme McDowell failed to fire on Thursday at Killarney © Getty Images

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Rory McIlroy suffered a disappointing double bogey at his final hole on Thursday, to spoil what looked like being an impressive start to the Irish Open.

The recently-crowned US Open champion, desperately hoping to mark his homecoming with another victory at Killarney GC, started well with three birdies on the front nine as he immediately moved to the head of the field.

But another birdie on the 10th was quickly cancelled out by a first bogey of the tournament at the very next hole, as the 22-year-old found it harder to make progress on the back nine.

Nevertheless, the Northern Irishman was three-under standing on the 18th tee - before a pulled approach shot found the water at the front of the green, setting up a double-bogey six that dumped him down into the pack at one-under after a round of 70.

"My swing let me down a bit and it caught up with me in the end," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "To finish with a six isn't so nice. I feel most of my game is in pretty good shape and I just need to go away and work on a few things this afternoon.

"I'm just not driving the ball that well, I need to be a bit more decisive on the tees. I just need a good session on the range."

Fellow former US Open victor Graeme McDowell also endured an ultimately disappointing day, finishing one-over after a round that started with eight solid pars but fell away following bogeys on the ninth, 11th and 16th.

Both were some way behind Jeev Milkha Singh, who briefly threatened to card a round of 59 before he slowed down over the closing holes to eventually card an eight-under round of 63.

"When you are holing putts from everywhere it seems really easy," Singh noted. "It's one of the best [rounds] I've ever had."

The Indian enjoyed a three-shot lead over Christian Nilsson, Marcel Siem and Michael Campbell, who all had rounds of 66.

At the beginning of the week McIlroy noted that the top Irishman in the field was likely to have a very good chance of winning the event - but it is not one of the big names that currently holds that honour. Colm Moriarty might be 215th in the Race to Dubai standings but he could be set to improve on that after a solid start on home soil - making three late birdies to sign for a 67 and four-under total.

There the 32-year-old was joined by Englishman Ross Fisher, Richard Green, Soren Hansen and Niclas Lemke - who continued his good form after finishing third in last week's Nordea Masters on a sponsor's invite.

The English trio of Graeme Storm, John Parry and David Horsey are a shot further back after rounds of 68.

Two other Irish major champions, Darren Clarke and Padraig Harrington, were among the afternoon starters - with the Open champion fighting back to card a two-under round of 69, while Harrington showed some grinding qualities to churn out a two-over round of 73.

"Little bit of rustiness because I had last week off doing other things," Clarke noted wryly, before praising the support he'd received. "Coming up the last I felt like I was winning a tournament on Sunday afternoon - it's been amazing."

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