Rory McIlroy had a mixed start to his defence of the Dubai Desert Classic as he shot a one-under-par 71 at Emirates GC.
Starting on the 10th hole, the world number two fired four birdies in his opening nine holes, birdieing the three par 5s and holed a nice approach from 10 feet at the par 4 16th.
After a drop shot at the first, his 10th hole, he drove the green on the 2nd to set up another birdie and get back to four under. That was as good as it got for the Northern Irishman who bogeyed the sixth, seventh and eighth holes to fall back to one under, four back of the lead held by four…
