World No. 1 Rory McIlroy managed to salvage some gloss with a pair of closing birdies in a round of a three over par 73 on day one of the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens.

McIlroy began with an opening hole double bogey and despite a birdie at the third, he slumped to be four over par with a double also at the fifth.

The four-time Major winner was then five over par through 14 holes before the 2012 champion birdied his closing two holes on the Champions Course at PGA National.

McIlroy’s round was eight shots more than the 67 he commenced his European Tour year in Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

“The conditions were obviously very tricky from the start.  You know, from the first hole, it was always going to be a day like that,” he said.

“I feel like I salvaged something out of the round the last couple holes, but it was just a day to keep trying, not to give up and know that anything around level, 1‑, 2‑over par still isn’t out of it.

“So wasn’t quite what I wanted, but hopefully tomorrow morning we get calmer conditions and we’re able to give ourselves a few more opportunities and make some birdies.

Rory McIlroy on route to a three over par 73 on the first day of his first round in the States in 2015. (Photo – Fran Caffrey/www.golffile.ie)

“So I didn’t beat myself up today, not at all. I’m coming off a three‐week break and tough conditions to come back out in. I knew that my game is there. Today wasn’t obviously what I wanted to start with, but you know, if I can get it into red numbers tomorrow, you know, I’m right back in the tournament.”

But then McIlroy was in good company in the Sunshine State with playing partners Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka also struggling in the bright but windy conditions.

Johnson, who lost out in a play-off last week in L.A., shot a 77 while Koepka, and recent winner of the Phoenix Open, an eight over par 78 for a combined three-ball score of 18-over par.

“I mean, I was walking from 14 green to 15 tee, I said to Brooks, let’s just make a couple birdies on the way in, try and get something out of it.  Luckily I was sort of able to do that,” said McIlroy.

“But yeah, it was tough.  When nothing’s going your way and you don’t really have anything to feed off, you don’t see many good shots and guys, we’re all struggling, it was a grind out there.  As I said, we’ll all go home and put our feet up tonight and get ready for tomorrow.”

Little known Ohio-born golfer Jim Herman leads the field with a round of a five under par 65.

And triple Major winning Padraig Harrington rekindled memories of his first PGA Tour success in the 2005 Honda Classic to be sharing third place with a round of a three under par 67.