Genesis Scottish Open Round 1 Leaderboard: Rory McIlroy turns nothing into something with trio of late birdies

Rory McIlroy closed with three straight birdies to turn nothing into something in the first round of the Genesis Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club. 

McIlroy, 36, looked out of sorts for most of the round but birdies on 16, 17 and 18 saw the World No.2 end up carding a respectable 2-under 68. 

The Northern Irishman, who is playing with a radical new hair cut, finds himself four shots off the pace heading into the second round.

It leaves him just inside the top 40. 

"I definitely finished the round better than I started it," said McIlroy. 

"It was a slow start, I think when you come back over here, links greens are a lot slower than what we are used to, three putt on 1, and then did well not to three putt the 2nd, so that got me off and running.

"I actually felt like I played some good golf after that. 

"Obviously finished great, but I was saying to the guys over there that I struggled a bit in left to right winds, those right to left winds I was okay, but it seemed the holes I got myself in trouble was when the wind was off the left, so it's something to work on the next few days."

McIlroy added: "The wind dropped for the last few holes which made the back nine really nice to play. All you can do is play the conditions that are in front of you." 

Defending champion Robert MacIntyre, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele also opened with a 2-under 68. 

World No.1 Scottie Scheffler fared one shot better with a steady 3-under 67. 

Scheffler opened his round on the perfect possible note when draining a 30-footer for eagle on the par-5 10th. 

A logjam group of four players lead the way after the first 18 holes.

Sepp Straka, Nico Echavarria, Jake Knapp and Victor Perez moved to the top of the board with rounds of 6-under 64.

Straka is seeking a third win on the PGA Tour this season, something only McIlroy and Scheffler have achieved. 

Another two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, Ryan Fox, is also off to a solid start with a 4-under 66. 

Viktor Hovland, who was playing alongside McIlroy, went round in the same score as he eyes a second win of the season. 

Elsewhere, England's Tommy Fleetwood, making his first start since agonisingly missing out on his first PGA Tour title at the Travelers Championship last month, failed to ignite in the first round with a level-par 70. 

US Open champion JJ Spaun also opened with a disappointing round of 70. 

This week's Genesis Scottish Open is once again a co-sanctioned event on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

VIEW FULL ROUND 1 SCORES HERE