'Rusty' Rory McIlroy upstaged by amateur in round one of Hero Dubai Desert Classic

*Selected others: J. Rahm -3, R. McIlroy -2, T. Fleetwood -1, V. Hovland +3

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Rory McIlroy admitted he was 'rusty' after the first round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. 

The 35-year-old is chasing his third successive victory here and his fifth overall. 

He carded an opening round of 2-under 70 at Emirates Golf Club and trails joint-leaders Ricardo Gouveia, David Micheluzzi and amateur David Ford by five shots. 

Ford, 22, is the No.1 ranked player in the PGA Tour University and has recently tasted back-to-back college wins. 

"Pretty scrappy," McIlroy told reporters when asked about his first competitive round of 2025. 

"Actually I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was 1-over compared to the last ten where I was 3-under.

"Yeah, it was a bit scrappy. First competitive round of the year. First competitive round in a while. 

"A little uncomfortable over some shots. Definitely not as comfortable as I was in practise and coming in here.

"But it's nice to get a card in your hand. It sort of exposes the things that you need to work on. I got it around today. 

"I got it around and got it in in a couple under, which is nice, and didn't put myself out of the tournament, which is the main thing."

McIlroy said in his news conference at the start of the week that he wants to be more consistent around the greens this season. 

Going forward, he wants to tinker less with his wedges. 

"I went back and forth with a few wedges last year, different grinds, different soles, different lofts," he said. 

"Just finding a wedge that I'm really comfortable with is one part of it.

"So I've been messing around a little bit in the off-season. 

"I actually went with two degrees more loft with the lob wedge, so I went to a 61-degree lob-wedge instead of a 59, which definitely makes the short-sided shots a little bit easier, and it was nice to see that a little bit today."

Elsewhere, potential LIV Golf recruit Tom McKibbin also carded the same score as McIlroy. 

McIlroy has explained that he advised McKibbin not to join the breakaway tour. 

Viktor Hovland is in danger of missing the cut after shooting a 75 that included six bogeys and three birdies. 

Jon Rahm carded a 69 to sit just inside the top 20. 

The Hero Dubai Desert Classic is the first Rolex Series event of the season. 

It has a total prize purse of $9m, with the winner taking home $1,530,000.

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