‘Pretty scrappy’ start for defending champion Rory McIlroy in Dubai

Defending champion Rory McIlroy had to settle for a “scrappy” opening round of 70 in the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

Seeking a third straight win at Emirates Golf Club, McIlroy carded four birdies and two bogeys to lie five shots off the lead shared by American amateur David Ford, Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and Australian David Micheluzzi.

“Yeah, pretty scrappy,” was McIlroy’s assessment of his round.

“Actually I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was one over compared to the last 10 where I was three under.

“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 practice 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 in a couple under, which is nice, and didn’t put myself out of the tournament, which is the main thing.

“I did a good job of scrambling today. I made a lot of key up-and-downs. Bonus of a chip-in on seven. But I don’t want to have to rely on my short game the rest of the week like I did today.”

Ford, who plans to turn professional in May, looked set to claim the outright lead when he covered his first 11 holes in seven under par, but parred his last seven to match the 65s posted by Micheluzzi and Gouveia.

“It was great,” the 22-year-old left-hander said.

“I got a couple of putts to fall that I didn’t know were going to go in, hit a lot of good iron shots.

“I loved where the pins were set up today. I felt like a lot of them fit my eye.”

France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera marked his return after a six-month absence due to mental health issues with an opening 67 to lie just two shots off the lead.

“I was crying on the first tee,” the 39-year-old told reporters.

“I managed to hit an absolute dart down the middle of the fairway. Big mistake, I relaxed and managed to hit the worst 2-iron ever, so I had to save a par. That felt good.

“I felt I could play some proper golf because I feel rested, and actually, the mindset was very important.

“The mindset this week and for the three weeks coming is just go out there and enjoy playing golf, which was not easy the last two to three years. Actually, I really enjoyed today.”

Two-time major champion Jon Rahm, who is making his debut in the event, carded an opening 69.