Rory McIlroy comes back to Earth with a bump

The law of life, death, taxes and Rory McIlroy at the Earth course is no more. His consistency at the Dubai venue is such he held a scoring average of 68 and had never carded over par until Thursday, when a 75 raised eyebrows. This was not supposed to happen.

There is an explanation for the 27-year-old’s start to the DP World Tour Championship. McIlroy, by his own admission, needed snookers to retain his European Tour order of merit title and there may have been a problem with mental focus.

McIlroy could have scrambled closer to level par after lying four over but for missed opportunities on a three-hole stretch from the 11th tee. He is now afforded the rarity of an early tee time for day two. In the second match of Friday, McIlroy will be reacquainted with Andy Sullivan, which will evoke some memories of the joust between the pair at this tournament 12 months ago.

McIlroy was at least spared questioning as to where precisely the first 18 holes had gone astray, instead having to fulfil the demands of anti-doping control. There can be no complaint about the European Tour’s drug testers focusing only on those who laugh in the face of scorecards.

Lee Westwood summoned an element of annoyance from his late ejection from the World Cup to produce a first round of 66, which placed him a shot clear of Nicolas Colsaerts and Julien Quesne at the top of the leaderboard. ofr

The peculiar nuances of the World Cup meant that when Danny Willett announced his withdrawal last week the top-ranked English player willing to participate could pick his partner. Chris Wood was left to make the call, with which he turned to Sullivan and scuppered Westwood’s plans for the tournament in Melbourne from November 24th-27th .

“I have never played in the World Cup so I was really looking forward to it,” Westwood said. “Danny asked me in August. I’m a little bit disappointed but everybody has to do certain things for reasons and normally their own in this game. I understand.”

Only half a smile followed as he added: “I needed to be higher in the world rankings to pick my partner. Chris probably shouldn’t be expecting a pick if I am playing in the World Cup. It’s up to him to pick whoever he wants. He gets on with Sully and Sully is a good player. They will have a chance.

“I can understand him picking a mate and he’s picked a very good player. I think it’s probably more to do with the rules than anything. I think the week before somebody is meant to go down there is a little late to say: ‘No, you’re not playing.’”

Westwood’s aspirations for the task in hand are boosted by his win here in 2009. The 43-year-old’s first-round efforts were even more praise worthy given the absence of his long-time caddie, Billy Foster, who has been consigned to home because of a knee injury. Ken Herring, normally the bag man for Marc Warren, has stepped in.

“I probably have to do more, think a little bit more,” Westwood said. “Billy normally thinks for me, which is probably a good thing. A different caddie doesn’t know my game. He’s only had one round on the bag in the pro-am on Tuesday and I wasn’t particularly sharp then. He’s sort of making it up as he goes along but I have full confidence in him.”

Henrik Stenson, the leader of the order of merit going into this final tournament of the season, signed for a level-par 72. “I played very average,” the Open champion said.

Willett, the player in closest pursuit of Stenson, fared a stroke better. Sergio Garcia was six under par after 14 holes but a double-bogey on the 16th meant the Spaniard had to settle for a 68 along with Francesco Molinari and Joost Luiten. Guardian Service