Irish Open Day One: Action gets underway at Royal County Down

Séamus Power cards a first round 74 The West Waterford man finishes with a bogey and is heading for the clubhouse on three over for the day.  “I played better than that, that's the disappointing part," Power tells RTÉ. "I played nicely on the back nine, with my front. The greens on the front are a bit more exposed and I didn’t handle them well.  I’m going to have to play a good round tomorrow, it's going to be windier in the afternoon I assume. So I'll need to hang in there and take a chance here and there."  He added that the skin lesion on his arm caused a "little bit of discomfort" but that it's fine. 

Irish Open leaderboard

Daniel Brown -2 (69)
Erik van Rooyen -2 (17)
Ewen Ferguson -2 (17)
Ashun Wu -2 (12)
Jarvis Casey -1 (17)

Irish selection:

Simon Thornton -1 (11)
Max Kennedy E (12) 
Pádraig Harrington +2 (17)
Gary Hurley +3 (17)
Séamus Power +3 (74)
Shane Lowry (1.0)
Rory McIlroy (1.15)
Tom McKibbin (1.15)

McIlroy blasts his first shot down the fairway and then finds the the green in two. 

McKibbin doesn't fare as well and nearly sticks his drive out of bounds, while Norrman is in good shape after watching his approach take an advantageous bounce onto the green. 

The rain is coming down at Royal County Down now, where Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre and Ryan Fox have teed off from the difficult par-5 first. 

Meanwhile, Ireland's Simon Thornton has jumped up to a shot behind the co-leaders with his fourth birdie of the day. 

There has in fact been a 15-minute delay to tee times, meaning Lowry is now expected to start at 1.0 while McIlroy and his group are pushed back to around 1.15. 

Rory is nearly ready to go...

In the last few minutes, South Africa's Erik van Rooyen and Ashun Wu of China have both moved on to three under to take a share of the lead, while Jorge Campillo has fallen back to two under. 

Shane Lowry will be teeing off at 12.40 alongside Robert MacIntyre of Scotland and New Zealand's Ryan Fox. 

"It would probably be the biggest achievement of my career, and it would probably stay there forever."

Séamus Power started with two birdies from his first three holes but four bogeys have put the Waterford native on two over with two holes left to play. 

There were plenty of household names taking part in yesterday’s Pro-Am.  

“It’s going to be a really tough test, and I think it could be one of the highest-winning scores ever in a European Tour event this week,” Lowry said. “Would I take level par and sit here and wait? Possibly. That’s how tough it’s going to be."

Brian Keogh writes that while Lowry and McIlroy are the bookies’ favourites, England’s Aaron Rai and Scot Robert MacIntyre, who have performed well in poor conditions in the past, could pose threats. 

Good afternoon. A blustery but sunny Royal County Down GC is the venue for this year’s Amgen Irish Open, the first time it has hosted the event in nine years.   

Rory McIlroy, a winner in 2016, and 2009 champion Shane Lowry, are among the biggest names in a field that features five of the world’s top 50 golfers, while Sweden's Vincent Norrman will be aiming to defend his title, which he claimed at The K Club 12 months ago. 

Play began at 7.30 this morning, and Jorge Campillo of Spain is the early leader on four under through 10 holes with eight players within two shots of him. 

The wind is likely to be a major factor throughout the four days and live coverage will start shortly on RTÉ 2 (12.45) and Sky Sports Golf (1.0), but we will be taking you through the action here on Independent.ie.