McIlroy and Morrow lead Irish Close

Odd couple Rory McIlroy and Adrian Morrow survived the carnage to lead after the first qualifying round of the Golfsure Irish Amateur Close Championship at the European Club.

Pat Ruddy’s monster-sized Brittas Bay links proved to be too tough a test for the best amateurs in the country as nobody except the leaders broke or matched par with the average score a shocking 80.7.