Rory McIlroy makes rare fast start on home soil, Sean Keeling inside top 30

Home favourite Rory McIlroy produced a late hat-trick of birdies to make an ideal start to his bid for a second Amgen Irish Open title.

McIlroy was in danger of letting a promising round slip away when he bogeyed the 14th and 15th to fall back to level par, but he birdied the last three holes at Royal County Down to record an opening 68.

That represented a 12-shot improvement on his first round the last time the highly-rated course staged the Irish Open in 2015, and left him two shots off the lead held by England's Todd Clements who is on five-under par.

"Any time you can shoot three under around this place you have to be happy," McIlroy, who is well aware that his record as a professional on home soil leaves a lot to be desired, told RTÉ Sport after his round

"The conditions were pretty tough early on and then the wind seemed to settle a little bit those last few holes and it was nice to take advantage of that and play them the way I did.

"Giving those shots away on 14 and 15, to get more than both of them back on the last three holes was a great way to finish and gives me plenty of momentum going into Friday morning.

"It’s nice to get off to a good start [in Ireland] for a change. I enjoyed being out there, the crowds were great and it was great being out there with Tom [McKibbin] as well.

Rory McIlroy starts the first round of the Irish Open with a birdie and helps earn £400 for Make A Wish Ireland. Amgen and the DP World Tour are donating £400 for every birdie carded by the field on the first hole.