McIlroy blames late night for slow start

Rory McIlroy blamed a late night for his slow start before living up to his billing as the pretournament favourite in the DS Automobiles Italian Open.

Starting on the back nine at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, the venue for next year’s Ryder Cup, McIlroy was one over par after eight holes and threw his ball away in frustration following a bogey on the 17th.

The four-time major winner then had to hole from 18 feet to save par on the 18th and from seven feet on the first, but kickstarted his round by holing out from 115 yards for an eagle on the parfour third.

Birdies at the fifth, eighth and ninth completed an inward half of 30 and an opening four-under-par 67, leaving McIlroy a shot behind Matt Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick had completed 15 holes of his round before play was suspended for the day due to darkness, the result of an earlier onehour delay caused by the threat of lightning.

Asked what he was thinking midway through his round, McIlroy told Sky Sports: “Probably that I shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night! I felt like I was still half asleep playing that front nine.

“That eagle obviously ignited something and sort of kickstarted my round a little bit.”

Fitzpatrick picked up two shots on the front nine and then carded a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th to move to the top of the leaderboard, one shot ahead of an eightstrong group which included McIlroy, Eddie Pepperell and Scott Jamieson.

Robert MacIntyre is three shots further back. David Law posted a three over 74 while Stephen Gallacher is five over.

Rory McIlroy at the DS Automobiles Italian Open.