Rory McIlroy two shots off top spot after opening round of Australian Open

Rory McIlroy carded a two-under-par 69 as he began the defence of his Australian Open title in Sydney.

The world number one finished his opening round two shots off Jordan Spieth's clubhouse lead after a decent, if slightly inconsistent day. The 25-year-old struggled for steady form after he remained on level par after the front nine, picking up shots on the first, fifth and ninth holes. The Northern Irishman improved towards the end of his round, making the turn after a bogey followed a birdie on holes fourteen and fifteen. McIlroy admitted that jet lag took its toll on his round saying: "It took me a little while to get going. "I'm feeling a bit jet lagged."   He added: "I gave myself a lot of chances early on in the round and didn't really take them. "The conditions were pretty tricky. It was tough to get the ball close to the pins with the wind and these greens being quite firm as well. "I thought anything under par today was a decent score and it was nice to birdie the last and shoot something in the 60s. It puts me right there going into tomorrow. "Golf tournaments are long, all you want to do is give yourself a chance going into Sunday. I definitely feel like there's a better score out there."