Rory McIlroy three-putted two of his last three holes for a disappointing 70 in the first round of the Irish Open over a Royal Portrush course he knows so well.
Given "phenomenal" support by an all-ticket crowd there to watch the first staging of the event in Northern Ireland since 1953, the world number two stood four under on the 16th tee.
But both there and on the final green he was deceived by the speed - or lack of it - and his first task on his return is now to make sure he does not suffer a fifth missed cut in six starts.
McIlroy, the course-record holder with a 61 set when he was only 16, spoke about a "sloppy finish" and added: "I think as the day went on the greens got a bit slower and coming from the greens I've been putting on (in America) it's a big change."
He was glad to have girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki there for support, but would rather she was still at Wimbledon. The former world number one suffered a shock first-round defeat on Tuesday.
Open champion Darren Clarke battled back from two over after eight to hand in a one under 71 and hopes now to make his first cut of what has been a dire season so far.
Not one of Northern Ireland's 'Big Three' broke 70 as Graeme McDowell also had a 71. It included a double bogey seven on the long 17th, but he went over the rough from the rough into bushes.
Collated first round scores in the European Tour The Irish Open Royal Portrush GC, Portrush, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
65 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind), Gregory Bourdy (Fra)
66 Mikko Ilonen (Fin), Andrew Marshall, Matthew Zions (Aus), Edouard Dubois (Fra), Mark Foster, Oscar Floren (Swe)
67 Peter Whiteford, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel), Warren Abery (Rsa), Simon Dyson, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha), Anthony Wall, Michael Jonzon (Swe), Keith Horne (Rsa), Alejandro Canizares (Spa), Padraig Harrington
68 Alex Haindl (Rsa), Richard Bland, Carlos Del Moral (Spa), Gary Orr, Ross Fisher, James Morrison, Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Thomas Norret (Den), Mark O'sullivan, Jamie Donaldson, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita), Dylan Frittelli (Rsa), Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe), Bradley Dredge
69 Andrew Johnston, Mikael Lundberg (Swe), Robert Jan Derksen (Ned), Ricardo Santos (Por), Steven O'Hara, Graeme Storm, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa), Christian Nilsson (Swe), Steve Webster, Richie Ramsay, Paul Waring, Marcel Siem (Ger), David Lynn, Mark Murphy, Romain Wattel (Fra), Paul Lawrie, Jbe Kruger (Rsa), Rich Beem (USA), Fabrizio Zanotti (Par), Paul McGinley
70 Francesco Molinari (Ita), Garth Mulroy (Rsa), Robert Coles, Peter Hedblom (Swe), Kenneth Ferrie, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa), John Daly (USA), Paul Cutler, Joel Sjoholm (Swe), Rory McIlroy, Simon Thornton, Michael Hoey, Jamie Moul, Estanislao Goya (Arg), Matthew Baldwin, Lee Slattery, David Drysdale, Thomas Levet (Fra), Richard Sterne (Rsa)
71 Alan Dunbar, Damien McGrane, Jorge Campillo (Spa), Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa), Felipe Aguilar (Chi), Gary Boyd, Robert Rock, Daniel Denison, Marc Warren, Niclas Fasth (Swe), Markus Brier (Aut), Sam Little, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa), Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa), Graeme McDowell, David Howell, Matthew Nixon, Phillip Price, David Horsey, Dermot Mcelroy, Darren Clarke, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg)
72 Michael Collins, James Kingston (Rsa), Joost Luiten (Ned), Matteo Manassero (Ita), Johan Edfors (Swe), Jamie Elson, Jordi Garcia (Spa), Shane Lowry, George Murray, Hennie Otto (Rsa), Richard McEvoy, Maarten Lafeber (Ned), Darren Fichardt (Rsa), Simon Khan, Brett Rumford (Aus), Chris Devlin, Stephen Gallacher, Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Andrea Pavan (Ita), Richard Finch, Reinier Saxton (Ned), Ignacio Garrido (Spa)
73 Craig Lee, Michael Campbell (Nzl), Joakim Lagergren (Swe), Danny Willett, Peter Lawrie, Keegan Bradley (USA), Andy Sullivan, Tommy Fleetwood, Federico Colombo (Ita), Richard Green (Aus)
74 Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa), Shiv Kapur (Ind), David Dixon, Julien Guerrier (Fra), Matthew Southgate, Pablo Martin (Spa), Oliver Fisher
75 Soren Kjeldsen (Den), Gareth Maybin, Branden Grace (Rsa), Rhys Davies, Andrew Dodt (Aus), David Higgins
76 Colin Montgomerie, Knut Borsheim (Nor), Tim Sluiter (Ned), Niall Kearney, Mark Staunton
77 Barrie Trainor, Damian Mooney, Daniel Miernicki (USA), Harry Diamond, Scott Jamieson
78 Chris Wood, George Coetzee (Rsa), Benjamin Hebert (Fra), Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind)
80 Eamonn Brady, Patrick Mccrudden
82 John G Kelly
83 Sam Hutsby
