McIlroy dominant in tussle with Asia/Pacific

Teen star Rory McIlroy notched two wins on the opening day of the Sir Michael Bonallack Trophy in New Zealand.

Europe took a 6.5 to 3.5 lead after the first day of the biennial clash with Asia/Pacific at Auckland Golf Club.

And Holywood ace McIlroy, 16, was one of the stars of the show as he won his matches in both the fourballs and foursomes.

In the morning fourballs, the recently crowned West of Ireland champion teamed up with Norway's Marius Thorp to beat Japan's Yuta Ikeda and Yuki Ito one up thanks to a birdie at the last.

Europe led 4.5 to 0.5 going into the afternoon foursomes, but saw the hosts come storming back to win three of the five matches.

McIlroy dovetailed brilliantly with the reigning Irish Amateur Open champion, Scot Richard Ramsay, for a 5 and 3 victory over Ikeda and Ito.

The celtic cousins hit five birdies and kept a bogey off their card to rack up an impressive win.

But Europe could mange only one more victory in the afternoon as Gary Wolstenholme and Oliver Fisher beat Aussies Andrew Dott and Woon Joon Lee by one hole.

Asia-Pacific is bidding for a hat-trick of wins in the Ryder Cup style competition.