Rory McIlroy stormed back after a stuttering start in the DS Automobiles Italian Open, with an opening round 67 enough to give him a share of the early clubhouse lead at the venue which will host next year's Ryder Cup.
Beginning on the back nine at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club, McIlroy initially looked to be in a spot of bother; a bogey on the 17th resulted in him throwing his ball away in disgust before an 18 foot putt saved par at 18.
Par was again saved on the first with a seven foot putt, but then the four-time major winner turned the tide in his favour and burst into life down the stretch.
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He holed out from 115 yards for an impressive eagle on the par-four third before notching birdies at the fifth, eighth and ninth to join himself with Malaysia's Gavin Green and Spain's Adri Arnaus at the top of the leaderboard.
Speaking after his round, McIlroy admitted that at the midway point he felt jaded from the night before.
He said: “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 kick-started my round a little bit and I played some really good golf on the way in.
“I can’t complain, I played the more difficult nine well today and the easier nine not so well so probably evened out. I just need to tidy up a few things going into the next few days.”
McIlroy met with Europe's Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald as well as other Ryder Cup hopefuls on Wednesday evening for dinner and "team bonding" and McIlroy described some of the brainstorming which took place.
He said: “Stats-wise the American team are very good from 150 (yards) in, so they’re trying to set the golf course up that it’s a challenge to get your tee shots within that range.
“Even this year compared to last year some of the tee shots have been brought in, the rough’s been brought in on either side.
"You’ve got bunkers you can carry at 300, 310 (yards), but the angle that’s created is very tight and you’re hitting it into a smaller window.
“I think by forcing people to play more conservative off the tee helps the Europeans a little bit, I think that’s part of the strategy for next year.”
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