Mikko the masterful Fota Finn
Ilonen off to a flier but Rory is a back number
THE first hole Mikko Ilonen ever played in Ireland was an eyeopener because, when he got to the green, it was covered in snow. Some 15 years on from his West of Ireland bow, which he won, the Finn enjoyed the sun on his back as he blazed a first-day trail at Fota Island.
An eight- birdie haul swept 34-year-old Ilonen to the top of the Irish Open leaderboard, although he reckoned his seven-under par 64 will have made little impression on the folks at home.
‘It will be noticed, but not a lot,’ he said. ‘With the World Cup going on right now, there will be 99 per cent interest in that. We are the something else,’ he laughed.
The world No 63 i s the fifth highest ranked player at Fota and is targeting a strong finish to ensure i nvolvement i n The Open at Hoylake and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational.
He has pleasant memories of Hoylake, having won the British Amateur there i n 2000, before qualifying for The Open in 2006 where he tied 16th behind Tiger Woods. ‘I carried my bag in the qualifying rounds,’ he recalled.
Ilonen, who lost a play- off to Sergio Garcia f or t he Qatar Masters in January, had started on the back nine and was three under par at the turn before a bogey on the first proved to be an unlikely catalyst for five birdies in his last seven holes.
‘On our 10th hole, the first hole, I made a mess out of it,’ said Ilonen, who enjoyed a three-shot lead over England’s Matthew Baldwin and Italy’s Edoardo Molinari.
‘I hit a big drive, middle of the fairway with sand wedge, and I walk off with a five.
‘Luckily I didn’t get too angry with it and I just got going, kept hitting greens and kept giving myself chances. Luckily in the end I made a few putts. I didn’t feel so good with the putter today but, in the end, it started feeling good.’
McIlroy might be ready to take centre stage at the 2016 Olympics but he is in danger of becoming an afterthought in Cork.
The pre-tournament favourite blamed a ‘sloppy’ short game for an opening round of 74 which left him facing a battle to avoid another early exit from the Irish Open.
McIlroy has a relatively poor record in his national championship, recording two top-10 finishes in seven appearances and missing the cut l ast year along with Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke and Graeme McDowell.
‘I still drove the ball great and got in the positions that you need to, but short-sided myself a couple of times, hit a couple of loose shots with my wedges and could not get a putt to drop,’ said McIlroy.
‘I was pretty sloppy with the scoring clubs so I might head to the range to work on those.’
Starting from the 10th, McIlroy hit his third shot to the 537-yard par-five over the green and had to scramble for his par, something he was unable to do on the short 11th after finding sand off the tee.
McIlroy had to save par again on the next after coming up short of the green with his approach, while another missed green on the 14th resulted in a second bogey of the day after a duffed chip.
A birdie on the par-five 18th took him to the turn one over, but another bogey soon followed on the second.
McIlroy was lucky not to pull his tee shot into the water on the third, but failed to make the most of his good fortune before repairing some of the damage with a birdie on the par-five fifth.
After three-putting the sixth and failing to get up and down from a bunker on the seventh, McIlroy at least finished in style with a birdie on the last which prompted the two-time major winner to raise his arms in mock celebration.
Chris Doak, meanwhile, is leading Scot after a two-under-par 69.