{"id":1249025,"date":"2024-01-18T15:31:16","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T15:31:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-mcilroy-finishes-poorly-on-opening-day-of-hero-dubai-desert-classic-defence\/"},"modified":"2024-01-18T20:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T20:46:05","slug":"rory-mcilroy-finishes-poorly-on-opening-day-of-hero-dubai-desert-classic-defence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/rory-mcilroy-finishes-poorly-on-opening-day-of-hero-dubai-desert-classic-defence\/","title":{"rendered":"Rory McIlroy finishes poorly on opening day of Hero Dubai Desert Classic defence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rory McIlroy was left to rue a poor finish to his opening round in the defence of his Hero Dubai Desert Classic title.<\/p>\n<p>Seeking a record fourth victory in the event at Emirates Golf Club, McIlroy made an excellent start with four birdies in the first nine holes and bounced back from a bogey on the first \u2013 his 10th hole \u2013 with a birdie on the second.<\/p>\n<p>However, the world number two then three-putted the sixth, duffed a chip on the seventh to drop another shot and also bogeyed the eighth to card a disappointing one-under-par 71.<\/p>\n<p>That left the four-time major winner four shots off the lead shared by 2018 winner Li Haotong, England\u2019s Andy Sullivan, American Cameron Young and Denmark\u2019s Rasmus Hojgaard.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Rory McIlroy Round 1 Highlights | 2024 Hero Dubai Desert Classic\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/IXsDhEOTllE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Li missed the cut or withdrew from his last 16 events in 2023 but finished 14th in last week\u2019s Dubai Invitational and carried on where he left off with seven birdies and two bogeys in his 67.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I played just as solid as last week,\u201d the three-time DP World Tour winner said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve been working on a lot of stuff during the wintertime and (am starting to) see some results like this. I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s six years since my win here.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of great memories and hopefully I can continue to do some magic here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- EMBED START Image --><\/p>\n<figure id=\"embedded913bd87ab6714909abcf9fe8685fd12f\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/\/content.assets.pressassociation.io\/AP\/2024\/01\/18\/913bd87ab6714909abcf9fe8685fd12f.jpg?w=640\" alt=\"Li Haotong\" data-title=\"Emirates Hero Dubai Desert Classic Golf\" data-copyright-holder=\"AP\" data-copyright-notice=\"Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.\" data-credit=\"Kamran Jebreili\" data-usage-terms=\"This content is intended for editorial use only. For other uses, additional clearances may be required.\" \/><figcaption>Li Haotong holds a share of the lead in the first round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic (Kamran Jebreili\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><!-- EMBED END Image --><\/p>\n<p>Sullivan\u2019s form also came as something of a welcome surprise, the former Ryder Cup player carding a bogey-free 67 on his debut appearance in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFirst event of the year for me so you\u2019re always a bit anxious,\u201d Sullivan said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never know quite how you\u2019ve done in practice. Could be playing brilliantly, and then you never know until you put it into tournament rounds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like I grew into the round well. I didn\u2019t feel like I started great, but then sort of got around the turn and felt like I was swinging it a lot better and felt like I could go at a few more flags and the putter got hot. Massively satisfied.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Young looked unlikely to enjoy a share of the lead when he bogeyed the ninth to reach the turn in one over par, but the world number 25 birdied the 10th, 13th, 16th and 17th before holing from 50 feet for an eagle on the last.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI played really well,\u201d Young said. \u201cThe front-nine scoring was a little bit hard to come by.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI played better than that so I was really happy with the back nine, happy just that I stayed patient throughout the front nine and kind of let it come to me late. To make those birdies and eagle on the last was tremendous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>England\u2019s Richard Mansell was part of a seven-strong group on four under par, with former world number one Adam Scott and Dubai Invitational winner Tommy Fleetwood another stroke back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The world number two carded a disappointing one-under-par 71.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1249026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,29],"tags":[9051],"class_list":["post-1249025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dp-world-tour","category-the_tours","tag-pa-news","priority_tax-homepage-slider"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.3 (Yoast SEO v23.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rory McIlroy finishes poorly on 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