Paris 2024: Rory McIlroy makes solid start to Games

Rory McIlroy is five off the clubhouse lead after starting his Olympics golf tournament with a three-under 68 at Le Golf National, where the first round was suspended with only a few holes remaining due to lightning.

Having bogeyed his second hole, McIlroy recovered well, picking up shots on the third and fifth before a brilliant eagle on nine really put the wind in his sails.

However he gave one back on 10 and then bogeyed the 12th before a run of three birdies in a row from 13 to 15 got him back on track. McIlroy bogeyed the last to head for the clubhouse on a bit of downer, but it still represented a decent start to the tournament for the 35-year-old.

Japan's Hideki Matsuyama grabbed an early lead as he looked to outdo his fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Games, while French pair Victor Perez and Matthieu Pavon were roared on by the crowd in sunshine south of Paris.

Shane Lowry was one of the later starters. He was one-under through 17 before play was halted.

When Lowry returned to the course, he bogeyed the 18th to finish level par for the day.

"I feel like it was probably the worst score I could have shot," he told RTÉ Sport after finishing his opening round.

He said: "I started off average but then I got going and I felt I gave myself a lot of chances, just didn't convert any.

"Then all of a sudden you come into the last stretch of holes and I hit a couple of bad shots at the wrong time, it is what it is.

"There’s a long way to go, obviously I’m a long way behind, but there’s nothing that a good round tomorrow morning can’t straighten out. I feel like I’m playing the golf to do it so I just got to go out and do it."

"I feel like it was probably the worst score I could have shot" - Shane Lowry was left disappointed after a