Rory McIlroy content with first round 67 in Turkey

If the fact that he was forced to imitate Phil Mickelson and play out of rough from behind a tree left-handed indicated he wasn’t firing on all cylinders, a scorecard of five-under-par 67 also showed that there was more good than bad for Rory McIlroy in the first round of the Turkish Airlines Open here at The Montgomerie as the Northern Irishman seeks to further strengthen his grip on the Race to Dubai.

McIlroy’s round - bogey-free with five birdies on his card - put him into a strong position, with South African Jaco Van Zyl racing out of the traps with a sizzling 61, 11-under-par, to assume the first round lead.

"Someone always goes mad. It is more of a marathon than a sprint for four rounds, so it's just keep picking off birdies and keep doing what I am doing," claimed Shane Lowry, who suffered a bogey-bogey finish en route to signing a first round 68, four-under, in his own bid to play catch-up on McIlroy in the Order of Merit standings.

McIlroy’s impersonation of Mickelson was enacted on the Par 5 18th, his ninth hole of the round, where a pulled tee shot down the left saw him play a provisional ball which ultimately wasn’t needed. Instead, McIlroy found his original ball perched in the long grass behind a tree and opted to use a sand-wedge and to play it left-handed back across the fairway. He salvaged par on the hole and then sharpened up on the home run with birdies on the first, third, fourth and seven holes.

McIlroy - who is chasing back-to-back Race to Dubai titles - was content with his first round offering. His goal for the rest of the season? “It’s about trying to win the Race to Dubai. I’d like to win a tournament first and foremost, to try and get another win under my belt this year. It would be nice to go to Dubai (next month) with another win under my belt, whether it’s this week or in China next week. I feel I’ve set myself up for a good three days to have a run at it this week.”