Philip Reidcatches up with Ulster's Rory McIlroy who showed yesterday his game is in good order after finishing with two-under-par 70

RED! FOR power? Yesterday, some 11 days beyond his 19th birthday, Rory McIlroy - bedecked in red polo shirt and cap - reached another milestone as he made his first professional appearance in the Irish Open. And, as tends to be the norm, and with a large gallery in tow, he didn't disappoint.

When all was done, McIlroy signed for a two-under-par 70 that held promise of even better days to come. "It's a solid start, hopefully I can build on it for the next three days," remarked McIlroy, who had decided on a two-week break ahead of the tournament after a stint in the Far East. "I got home and sort of recharged the batteries a little bit, did a lot of good practice. It's paid off. I feel comfortable with my ball striking and I've sharpened up my short game. Overall, I feel like I'm playing quite nicely."

McIlroy has been quite careful with his travelling itinerary in recent months, taking all of February off - to go on a holiday cruise - and only getting into a hectic schedule now that the tour has returned to its home base in Europe, rather than traversing time lines in the Far East.

Starting here with the Irish Open, the Ulster teenager plans to play eight of the next 10 weeks. "I feel more comfortable in Europe than in the Far East, and it shows." As an appetiser for what is to come, yesterday's offering was tasty; whetting the palate, with the promise of even tastier courses to come.

Having become the youngest player to attain his European Tour card by affiliate membership, a feat he achieved in just two tournaments last season after finishing third in the Alfred Dunhill Links, McIlroy has taken his time to find his feet in his first full season on tour but is excited about the future; and, more immediately, the next few days as he seeks to get into contention over the business end of the Irish Open. Yesterday's round, when he started on the 10th, of four birdies - on the 12th, 13th, 18th and fourth - and two bogeys - which came on the 17th and eighth holes - indicated his game's in good order. "If I can play like that for the next three days, I won't be far off," said McIlroy.

In fact, McIlroy came very close to recording a hole-in-one on the fourth, his 13th hole, when his six-iron tee-shot to the 178 yards par three finished a matter of inches behind the hole. "I hit a little hold-up six-iron, and I don't know how it didn't go in. It was a great shot." That tee-shot left him with the easiest of tasks, tapping in for what proved to be his final birdie of the round.

Although he only hit six of 14 fairways, McIlroy managed to find 12 of the 18 greens in regulation. However, that dropped shot on his penultimate hole, the seventh, irked a little. There, he hit his approach into the second cut of rough. "It was one of those lies with a chip shot when you could get a lot of grass stuck between the ball and the clubface, so it's either going nowhere or you could shoot it over the green."

McIlroy chose to putt instead, only to discover the ball was in a little indentation and it just hopped out. He missed the 10-footer to save par.

But he wasn't worried about that. It was left in the past as soon as he walked to the next tee. "Overall, it was a great round. I'm hitting it very well. My short game is pretty good . . . yeah, I probably could have been a couple better but 70 around this golf course isn't going to do you any harm."