World No. 1 Rory McIlroy let slip the clubhouse lead with what he described was a ‘frustrating’ finish to his round of a three under par 67 on day one of the BMW Championship in Denver, Colorado.

McIlroy had raced to the lead at five under par after 12 holes but ended with back-to-back bogeys at his 16th and 17th holes on the Cherry Hills course.

It saw the four-time Major winner end his round tied with American Gary Woodland and Ryder Cup rookie Jordan Spieth.

“I though I hit a good drive off seven or my 16th and it just got into a tricky spot and then making bogey straight after that left me a bit frustrated but looking at the other scores it is pretty tricky out there,” he said.

“So a low score out there is not easy to come and a 67 is still a good start even though it could have been a bit better.

“The fairways are firm and even when you are hitting irons or fairway woods off the tees you find your ball running off the fairways and into the rough and the rough is thick.

“Then when you are on the greens, the greens are so much firmer in the 24 hours since we were on the golf course and that’s made a huge difference.”

However despite his poor finish McIlroy pulled off one of the shots on the first day of the $US 8m event in playing the 5th hole or the 14th hole of his round when he found rough up the right side of the hole, and with ball well above his feet.  But McIlroy managed to get the ball onto the green and save par.

“It was a brutal lie there at five and all I was do was trying to get it somewhere on the green,” he said.

“So when it came out it came out really well and landed pretty much perfect and from there I was just making sure I could make my par putt and it turned out to be the best up-and-down all year!”

World No. 1 Rory McIlroy left frustrated after his rocky finish in the Rocky Mountains State.

However there was some joy for the 25-year old McIlroy having met with Denver Broncos quarter-back Peyton Manning ahead of the start to the tournament.

Manning, and a good friend to Tiger Woods, will lead the Broncos on Sunday night in the NFL season-opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

“It was cool meeting Peyton, and I met him in the locker room on Tuesday afternoon, and he offered us some tickets for the game on Sunday night, so that was really nice of him,” said McIlroy.

“I had been  looking forward coming to Denver knowing the game was on Sunday night.

“So to be in a position and be able to meet other sports people and people who are at the top of their game and profession, it always a cool thing to do.”

McIlroy, who grew-up on rugby but has since become a patriotic Manchester United fan, was asked if he was a fan also of American football.

“I’m a huge rugby fan, so there is obvious similarities with both games,” he said.

“Even though you guys play with pads on, which is, you know I don’t understand that.  No, it’s a great game. It really, once you start to understand ti, and I have started to understand it more over the past couple of years, you really get into it.

“I think the great thing about football is how short the season is.

“So it’s always in demand. People want it. Once the Super Bowl finishes, they can’t wait for football season to start up again. I think that’s the great thing about it.”

Manning and his Denver Broncos team will be looking to get their 2014/15 season off to a positive start after the disappointment in January of losing the Superbowl to the Seattle Seahawks.