Rory McIlroy hits out at Irish Open officials after disaster finish

McIlroy bogeyed two of the final three holes to fall out of the top 20

McIlroy was 3-under going into the final three holes, with massive numbers following the Masters champion around the course.

But his group - which included Thriston Lawrence and Kristoffer Reitan - were put on the clock with three holes to play for the second time in the round.

McIlroy went on to bogey the 16th and 17th holes of his round, falling to 1-under par for the opening round.

McIlroy, who teed off at 8am, said afterwards: “In all honesty, I felt a little rushed out there for the last 12 holes. We got put on the clock pretty early.

“And then the first official went away and then we were put on the clock for the last three holes to try to make time up.

"And it's hard because you feel a bit rushed, you're playing some tough holes and we obviously, our group, have to deal with a lot more than any other group on the course. So it's understandable that we lose time.”

The 36-year-old feels some leeway should be given to the marquee TV group, particularly with larger crowds following them. 

"I feel like any time I either come back to Europe or I play in some of these like one, two, three in the world type groups, we're always put on the clock for that reason," he said.

"So I got a little frustrated the last few holes because I feel like it always happens and I don't think they use sort of common sense in terms of, well, of course we're going to lose ground because we're going to have to wait on crowds and wait on the two camera crews that are out there.

"And, you know, there's just a lot more going on with our group than any of the other groups on the course, and sometimes I feel like they have to give us a little bit of leeway and use a bit of common sense."