Rory McIlroy found a bit of success early Thursday in the Amgen Irish Open, but lost ground late with back-to-back bogeys.

McIlroy shot 1-under 71 at The K Club in Kildare, Ireland, and was five off the early pace set by Nacho Elvira.

“Actually pretty encouraged how I played. Just didn’t score as well as I wanted to,” McIlroy said. “Game feels pretty good. Yeah, as I said, off the tee was good. Was sort of a continuation of what I saw at East Lake a couple weeks ago. Just a matter of being more efficient with the scoring.”

Shane Lowry, playing in the group in front of McIlroy, had a 69. Brooks Koepka, making his tournament debut, matched McIlroy’s 1-under performance.

“It’s a new driver, too, so very, very happy with myself,” said Lowry, who had four birdies and one bogey. “Yeah, hones

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