Rory: I made the course look good

WORLD No.1 and tournament host Rory McIlroy managed to retain his sense of humour despite suffering a nightmare first round in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open yesterday.

McIlroy carded nine bogeys and no birdies in an opening 80 at Royal County Down, six days after shooting 78 to miss the cut in the defence of his BMW PGA Championship title at Wentworth.

Only seven of the 78 morning starters broke par – US Open champion Martin Kaymer shot 79 playing alongside McIlroy – but former champion Padraig Harrington took advantage of marginally easier conditions in the afternoon to lead after a four-under 67.

“It was not quite as difficult as I made it look,” McIlroy admitted with a wry smile after an opening round played in cold, blustery conditions and rain.

“I was hitting it well on the range, keeping it down and hitting half shots, but the wind was not up that much on the course and I was caught between trying to play two ways.

“That led to missing greens, which led to lots of eight to 12-foot putts for par, which led to missing all of them.”

McIlroy has pledged to donate all of his prize money to his charitable foundation, while his association with the event ensured a top-class field and a sell-out crowd of 20,000 each day.

“It’s disappointing because I want to go out there and play well, not just for myself but for a lot of other people,” McIlroy added.

“I’ll just have to pick myself up and go out there tomorrow and shoot a good one.”

Harrington was one over par after 10 holes before carding five birdies in the next six to finish one shot ahead of former Ryder Cup team-mate Soren Hansen.

Playing alongside McIlroy, Rickie Fowler carded an opening 71 in his first outing since winning the Players Championship at Sawgrass, while Luke Donald went one better with a 70.