DP World Tour : Amgen Irish Open Weather Tee Times
Nacho Elvira, Thorbjørn Olesen and Romain Langasque shared the lead after a first round at the 2025 Amgen Irish Open that briefly saw Elvira joined at the top by his brother Manuel.
The elder Elvira set the early-afternoon clubhouse target with a bogey-free round of 66, with Olesen joining him at -6 after recovering from an early setback with eight birdies at the K Club. A closing birdie saw Langasque move alongside the pair.
Manuel Elvira reached that mark shortly after the turn before ending the day at -4, in a T8 behind Bernd Wiesberger, Daniel Brown, Adrien Saddier and Zander Lombard, who was still to complete his final hole.
Nacho Elvira started on the back nine and reached the turn in 36, -1 thanks to a birdie at the 13th.
He said: "I hit the ball pretty decent; probably the best that I've played in the last two, three months I would say. But I putted really well and I tried not to put myself in dangerous situations.
"I was in play off the tee pretty much all day. And then the greens are soft; very difficult to control the spin. But they are very receptive, so I took advantage and I made a lot of putts.
Olesen's round got off to a less than ideal start with a double bogey at the par3, 3rd after what he described as "a full duffed five-iron straight in the water" off the tee.
From there, though, he reeled off eight birdies with no further blemishes, with chip-ins at both the 14th and 17th followed by a five-foot putt at the last to see him into a share of the lead.
"I holed two chip shots on the back nine, holed a couple of good putts also," he said. "I didn't feel like my game was that great actually, but around the turn it definitely got better and I hit some good shots coming in.
Langasque had three birdies and one bogey on the back nine, where he started his round, before picking up another shot at the first.
Back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth put him firmly in contention and he rounded off a good day with an approach inside six feet for another at the last.
Brown started on the back nine and turned in 32, -5 - where he stayed after three more birdies and three bogeys on the front nine.
Saddier was level with the leaders until he bogeyed the seventh, his 16th hole, while Wiesberger also had only one dropped shot on his card.
Manuel Elvira flew out of the traps with a birdie at the 12th and three in a row from the 14th - then responded to his bogey at the 17th with three more gains in succession.
The last of those, via an 18-foot putt at the second, took him into a share of the lead with Nacho and though he then dropped shots after finding the trees at the fifth and water on the seventh, he finished within two of the lead.
He was alongside another Spaniard in Rafa Cabrera Bello, Frenchman David Ravetto and Finland's Oliver Lindell.
Home favourite Shane Lowry was happy with his new Srixon driver as he carded 69 to put himself in a large group at -3. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete the career Grand Slam, -1 71
Rory McIlroy hailed the "unbelievable" home support "It's been amazing," said the World Number Two. "It's great every time I come back and play in this tournament.
"The crowds are unbelievable and it's obviously a pleasure to play in front of them. They create a great atmosphere
"Yeah, felt like I played better than what the score reflects," he said. "Felt like I hit the ball well, drove the ball well, just had that disappointing finish, bogeying two of the last three holes.
"But actually pretty encouraged how I played. Just didn't score as well as I wanted to. Yeah, game feels pretty good. Off the tee was good. Was sort of a continuation of what I saw at East Lake a couple of weeks ago. Just a matter of being more efficient with the scoring.
"Ball striking-wise I thought I was pretty good today. Around the greens for the most part I was good. I missed a couple of mid-range putts there at the end of the round to save par and that one at the last for birdie, but felt like I hit decent putts and just hitting edges.
"So hopefully I can get it going tomorrow and shoot a low one."
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Bryan Angus (edit)
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