Moriarty upstages McIlroy, McDowell at Irish Open

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KILLARNEY, Ireland (AP) -- Colm Moriarty upstaged major winners Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell at the Irish Open on Thursday, shooting a 4-under 67 to take a surprise share of the early lead at his home tournament.

Ranked No. 536 and a regular on the second-tier Challenge Tour, Moriarty birdied three of the final four holes to help set the pace in Killarney.

Defending champion Ross Fisher of England, Sweden's Niklas Lemke, Australia's Richard Green and former winner Soren Hansen of Denmark joined Moriarty atop the leaderboard, but McIlroy dropped down the field by double-bogeying the par-4 last hole to cap a disappointing back nine.

The U.S. Open champion, who made four birdies in the first 10 holes but finished with a 70, pulled off a spectacular shot from the thick rough at No. 14.

Bending a wedge shot round a huge oak tree, the Northern Irish star managed to hook the ball 50 yards (meters) to land it within 12 feet of the pin. Two putts salvaged a par.

"All I was trying to do was get it in the front bunker," said McIlroy, who was playing his first event since a disappointing British Open, where he finished tied for 25th at Royal St. George's.

McDowell, the 2010 U.S. Open champion, shot 72 and was five shots off the pace.

British Open champion Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland and Ireland's three-time major winner Padraig Harrington were among the afternoon starters.

The 32-year-old Moriarty, who received an invitation to play in the tournament, had six birdies.

"I played lovely all day. It's the tournament you want to do well," said Moriarty, who is playing his seventh event on the European Tour this season. "This is where you want to be playing week in, week out."

A winner by two shots last year, Fisher had a bogey-free round featuring two birdies.

"I have fond memories of what I did last year and my game is in pretty good shape," said Fisher, a member of the 2010 Europe Ryder Cup team.

Hansen, who won the tournament in 2002, bounced back from a bogey at the first hole with an otherwise error-free round, while Lemke would have held the outright early lead if he hadn't bogeyed the last after hitting into the water off the tee.

McIlroy found the same stretch of water from a fairway bunker.

"I didn't drive it great all day and I played some scrappy golf coming in," the 22-year-old said.