Rory McIlroy signed off with a frustrating three-putt bogey and carded a three-under 68 that left him five shots behind early pace-setter Hideki Matsuyama in the Men’s Olympic Golf Competition in Paris.
The world number three overcame an early bogey at the second with birdies at the third and fifth and spectacular eagle three from five feet at the ninth at Le Golf National to turn in three-under 33.
He slipped back with bogeys at the 10th and 12th but recovered with three birdies in a row from the 13th to move into the top 10 before blasting a 37-foot birdie putt 15 feet past at the 18th and missing the return.
Former Masters champion Matsuyama was in superb form, rolling in eight birdies in a bogey-free 63 to set the clubhouse target at eight-under.
Ireland’s Rory McIlroy chips onto the 3rd green.
“It was okay,” McIlroy said. “Solid start. A bit up-and-down which is to be expected. I didn’t do a whole lot between The Open and here. Some good. Some not so good. A solid opening round.
“A little disappointing with the three-putt at the last. Overall, as I said, a solid start and something to build upon.”
The Japanese star was three shots clear of Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo and South Korea’s Tom Kim, who shot five-under 66s.
McIlroy was provisionally tied for 15th with his playing partner Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, while the other member of his threeball, world number one Scottie Scheffler, shot a four-under 67 to share eighth place alongside Sweden’s Alex Noren, New Zealand’s Ryan Fox, England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Austria’s Sepp Straka.