McIlroy struggles; fast start for Fowler at Irish Open

Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy both carried on from where they left off as the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open got under way on Thursday.

Fowler has not competed since winning the Players Championship earlier this month in spectacular style, playing the last six holes at Sawgrass in six under par – taking a tournament-record 11 shots to finish birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie - before beating Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner in a play-off.