Rory McIlroy credited his sensational hole-out eagle with kick-starting his first round as the World Number Two's magnificent recent form continued on day one of the 2022 DS Automobiles Italian Open.
McIlroy followed up last week's runner-up finish at the BMW PGA Championship with a first-round 67 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club on Thursday, having recovered from a disappointing opening nine.
Starting from the tenth tee at the 2023 Ryder Cup venue, the Northern Irishman sandwiched a birdie on the 16th between bogeys at the 11th and 17th before limiting the damage with a lengthy par save on the 18th.
But he bounced back in style, holing out from 115 yards for an eagle on the par-four third before rolling in birdie putts from more than ten feet at the fifth and eighth.
He then closed his round with another gain on the ninth to join early clubhouse leaders Gavin Green and Adri Arnaus at the summit on four under par. Matt Fitzpatrick then got to five under before play was suspended due to fading light in the evening.
Morning starter McIlroy, who leads the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex, was pleased with his performance over the last nine holes.
He said: "Felt like I was still half-asleep playing that front nine.
"I think that eagle obviously ignited something and sort of kick-started my round a little bit. I played some really good golf on the way in.
"I can't complain, I played the more difficult nine well and the easier nine not so well, so probably evened out.
"Just need to tidy up a few things going into the next few days."
McIlroy is getting his first look at next year's Ryder Cup host venue this week and he was in no doubt about what the course's defence is.
"The rough," he said. "If you get it going off line here off the tee it's very, very difficult.
"The rough is incredibly thick and there's sort of jungle outside of that if you get it way off line.
"So keeping it in the fairway is the big key and then because there's so many undulations and different levels on the greens, it's trying to get the ball in the right place on the greens, and because it was so windy today, they slowed the greens up a bit which made it tricky to read them.
"The ball wasn't breaking as much as it has the last couple of days in practice.
"Just a few things to adjust to, but yeah, overall, if I can get the ball in the fairway the next three days, I should have a chance."
