McIlroy thrilled to kick off year

Rory McIlroy made a strong start to his 2017 campaign at the BMW SA Open as the World No.2 carded an opening five-under-par 67 at Glendower GC.

The Ulsterman produced seven birdies and two bogeys in his first competitive round since November to lie only one shot behind first-round leaders Trevor Fisher Jnr and Keith Horne.

After starting with a run of four straight pars, McIlroy took advantage of perfect scoring conditions to reel off four straight birdies from the 14th, with further gains coming on the second, sixth – where he almost carded a hole-in-one – and eighth.

Home favourites Fisher Jnr and Horne both carded seven birdies against a single dropped shot in their rounds of 66, while McIlroy was joined in a share of third by South Africans Thomas Aiken, Dean Burmester and Jbe Kruger and England’s Jordan L Smith.