Rory McIlroy was relieved to get into the clubhouse under par as a strong finish to his round helped him to a scrappy opening 70 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
McIlroy finds himself two-under-par and five shots off the lead held by David Micheluzzi and Ricardo Gouveia but it could have been worse after a sluggish start left him one-over after eight holes.
But, the four-time winner of this event played his last ten holes at Emirates Golf Club in three-under with birdies on the 18th, 2nd and 7th and he joined Pádraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin in an Irish logjam on -2.
“Yeah, pretty scrappy. Actually I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was 1-over compared to the last ten where I was 3-under,” McIlroy reflected.
“Yeah, it was a bit scrappy. First competitive round of the year. First competitive round in a while. A little uncomfortable over some shots. Definitely not as comfortable as I was in practise and coming in here.
“But it’s nice to get a card in your hand. It sort of exposes the things that you need to work on. I got it around today. I got it around and got it in in a couple under, which is nice, and didn’t put myself out of the tournament, which is the main thing.”
The Holywood man has been working hard on his short game over the winter and as golf would have it, he was heavily reliant on his wedges and putter, including a chip in birdie on the par-3 7th.
“I did a good job of scrambling today. I made a lot of key up-and-downs. Bonus of a chip-in on 7. But I don’t want to have to rely on my short game the rest of the week like I did today.”
Clarity of thought around the greens will be key for the four-time major winner this season as he looks to tinker less with his wedges and adopt a one size fits all method.
“I think sticking with the one wedge. Part of the short game shots that we’re made to play around the green is usually with a lob-wedge with the way a lot of the courses are set up, and I went back and forth with a few wedges last year, different grinds, different soles, different lofts. Just finding a wedge that I’m really comfortable with is one part of it.
“So I’ve been messing around a little bit in the off-season. I actually went with two degrees more loft with the lob wedge, so I went to a 61-degree lob-wedge instead of a 59, which definitely makes the short-sided shots a little bit easier, and it was nice to see that a little bit today.”
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