World No. 1 Rory McIlroy ended a difficult first round on a very positive note holing a long-distance birdie putt in a round of a two-under par 70 at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio.

McIlroy joined the star three-ball of Tiger Woods, Brooks Koepka and himself out in the afternoon half of the draw and between them boasting a combined 23 Major.

At the end of a bright day made difficult by the swirling, windy conditions it was Tony Finau out front in posting a six-under par 66 for a one-shot lead on the Muirfield Village course.

Finau boldly tamed the testing conditions in playing his last 10 holes in six-under.

“I played nicely and pleased with how I played well in the tough conditions,” said Finau.

“When you play well in these conditions you have to get some good breaks and I managed a few breaks out there that was the key to my great round.

“This golf course can get you but I was happy to come out on top today.”

While McIlroy signed for 70 the five-time Memorial winning Woods also birdied the last in posting a 71 while Koepka followed his playing partners also with an 18^th hole birdie for a 72.

“I am pretty happy with that round as the golf course this afternoon got very windy and that meant the golf course got firmer while the greens especially were hard,” said McIlroy.

“It seemed strange out there also as the downwind holes seem to be playing harder than the into the wind holes, so to shoot 70 I thought was a pretty good effort.

“There was a couple of good scores out there such as Tony and Gary going even lower but I am happy with my day’s work.”

McIlroy, and who made him Memorial with a T10th finish in 2010, teed-off in the company of five-time Memorial winning Woods and fellow four-time Major champion, Koepka.

Though it was Woods who grabbed early bragging rights in racing to two-under thanks to birdies at his first and third holes.

Woods returned to the Tour in Dublin, Ohio boasting a remarkable statistic of 117-under par around ‘Jack’s Course’ and that’s 27 shots better than next in Matt Kucher at 90-under par.

And this week is a third attempt by Woods at breaking the Tour’s record for all-time victories since he tied Sam Snead’s mark of 82 wins last October at the ZOZO Championship in Japan.

It took McIlroy six holes for his first birdie in sinking an eight-footer at the par-3 sixth hole and to also get back to even par after dropping a shot at the fourth.

He moved into the red at one-under in two-putting the next hole, the par-5 seventh, from 40-feet before making the turn in bogeying the ninth for McIlroy to head into closing nine at level par.

The current World No. 1 salvaged a great par at the par-3 13^th in finding deep round back left and after managing to find the green, there was a fist pump in saving par from 20-feet.

McIlroy took the positives from 12 onto the par-4 13^th and in holing yet another ‘bomb’, and this one of 21-feet, he was rewarded with a birdie to move back to one-under.

He then muscled his way inside the top-10 in holing a three-footer at the par-5 15^th to go to two-under par ahead of three closing pars.

And the toughest conditions in the now 25 rounds since the June 11^th Tour resumption certainly did not play into Bryson DeChambeau’s hands with the Rocket Mortgage champ producing a one-over par 73 to be just inside the top-50.

DeChambeau launched his longest drive and all of 423-yards at his 10^th hole but three bogeys and the lone birdie was not what the World No. 11 was seeking.

“It was very difficult out there with the wind playing tricks with us today,” he said.

“It’s one of those things that I’ve obviously got to get a lot better with my iron play and wedging.”