Rory McIlroy was ready to put in the hard yards to get himself right into contention after carding a level par 72 on day one of the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
The Northern Irishman made three bogeys on the front nine but dragged himself back to level at Mount Juliet Estate before making impressive par saves on his final three holes.
That left him eight shots off the lead but the four time Major Champion did not feel he was too far away and was ready to hit the range and then the ground running on day two.
"I just couldn't really get anything going," he said. "I hit a few iron shots left, I know that. So I'm going to go to the range after this and work on a couple of things.
"Apart from that, the putts that I did miss, I hit good putts and I misread them or they didn't do what I thought they were going to do.
"It was just one of those days. I just couldn't get anything going. But it could have been worse.
Straight from the course to the range.@McIlroyRory grinding post-round.#DDFIrishOpen pic.twitter.com/xxO50jRLmY
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) July 1, 2021
"I saved par the last three holes and at least got in at even par and can get a good night's sleep tonight and get out fresh in the morning. It's obviously out there.
"I just need to play better and if I play better, I'll shoot a better score. I think it's a bit early in the tournament to start to try to shoot certain scores and see what I need. If I play better tomorrow, I'll shoot a better score and we'll go from there."
