Rory McIlroy: Masters champion ‘encouraged’ despite up-and-down Irish Open start

An upbeat Rory McIlroy says his game is coming together “a little bit” ahead of the Ryder Cup despite a sloppy finish to his first round at the Irish Open.

Playing in his penultimate event before helping Europe’s bid to retain the Ryder Cup against the United States in New York later this month, McIlroy recorded five birdies and four bogeys at the K Club on Thursday.

And while the Masters champion let shots go at two of his last three holes to shoot a one-under 71 and sit five off the early lead, he seemed happy with his efforts.

“I feel like I played better than what the score reflects,” the 36-year-old told Sky Sports.

“I drove the ball well, hit the ball well, but just had that disappointing finish, bogeying two of the last three holes. But I’m pretty encouraged with how I played. I just didn’t score as well as I wanted to.”

Spain’s Nacho Elvira leads after opening with a bogey-free 66, with England’s Dan Brown, Austrian Bernd Wiesberger and Frenchman Adrien Saddier one back.

Home favourite Shane Lowry finished with a birdie to card an opening 69, while five-time major winner Brooks Koepka matched McIlroy’s 71.

McIlroy, who will also play in next week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth before the Ryder Cup, added: “[My] game feels pretty good.

“As I said, off the tee was good, it was a continuation of what I saw at East Lake [at the Tour Championship] a couple of weeks ago. It’s a matter of being a little more efficient with the scoring.”