Rory McIlroy admitted to feeling “a little lost” as he struggled to a first round of 74 in the Irish Open that left him eight shots off the lead and battling to make the cut.
McIlroy won five times last year, including his second major title in the US PGA Championship at Kiawah Island, but has struggled to reproduce that form in 2013.
The 24-year-old finished 41st in the US Open at Merion a fortnight ago and on Wednesday apologised for throwing a club and bending his nine iron out of shape during a final round of 76.
The nine iron one of the Nike clubs he controversially changed to in a multi-million-pound deal in January has since gained a new shaft, but that did little to improve his fortunes at Carton House, where Sweden’s Oscar Floren carded a six-under 66 to lead by one from former champion Shane Lowry, Michael Hoey, Joost Luiten, Peter Uihlein and Jean-Baptiste Gonnet.
Lowry, who was still an amateur when he won at Baltray in 2009, was playing alongside McIlroy whom he beat in the first round of the Accenture Match Play in February while the third member of the group, the in-form Thomas Bjorn, carded a 68 that was matched by the likes of Paul Casey and former Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal.
McIlroy cut a disconsolate figure after his round.
“I don’t really know what’s going wrong,” the world number two said.
“No aspects of my game are standing out as strong. I’m hitting it well on the range and struggling hitting shots out on the course. The game is not coming as easy to me as it did last year.
“I just feel a little lost at the moment. I had a good chat with my dad and Michael Bannon (his coach) the Saturday night of the US Open and felt like we got a bit of direction from there, but it’s tough when you have rounds like this.”
McIlroy’s mood was in sharp contrast to that of Casey, who was ranked third in the world in 2009 but is currently 169th after struggling with form and fitness, most notably in 2012 after breaking his collarbone while snowboarding.
The leading Scot was Marc Warren who carded a three-under 69 to lie two shots ahead of Fifer Peter Whiteford and three in front of David Drysdale and Stephen Gallacher.
Callum Macaulay scored a one-over par 73 and Scott Henry a 74, but Scott Jamieson (76), Chris Doak (76) and Craig Lee (78) will be struggling to make the weekend.