Sara Byrne is best placed of the Irish contingent following the opening round of the Ladies Open de France.

The Cork golfer opened with a two-under 69 at Golf Barriere Deauville, leaving her four shots off first-round leader Alessia Nobilio of Italy.

Starting on the 10th tee, Byrne made an incredible start as she birdied her first three holes. Bogeys followed at the second hole – her 11th – and eighth before a closing birdie on the par-five ninth.

Anna Foster is even par after the first day of action in Deauville, the French city twinned with County Kildare.

Foster, the only Irish golfer to start from the first, was over par for her front nine, but her back nine featured three birdies and two bogeys to get her back level.

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Annabel Wilson had an up and down round that left her sitting on two-over par while the in-form Lauren Walsh had to be content with a three-over par 74, a run of four bogeys in five holes from the fourth to the eighth leaving her with work to do.

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Rory McIlroy is eyeing one of the great moments of his extraordinary career on the eve of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.

The first pairings in the opening session of foursomes in New York will be announced at 9pm and it’s widely expected that Rory McIlroy will be part of it.

McIlroy may play alongside the in-form Tommy Fleetwood, the recent winner of the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, while he may also play with fellow Irishman Shane Lowry this weekend.

McIlroy, speaking to RTÉ Sport, sounded upbeat in terms of the prospects of the European team pulling off the first away victory in the Ryder Cup by either side since the visitors won in Chicago 13 years ago.

He said: “We have a great team, we have a great leader. The next mission or opportunity is to win a Ryder Cup away from home and as you’ve seen over the past decade the home field advantage has become increasingly stronger.

“We haven’t really had a tight Ryder Cup since 2012 and it’s always been very much one-sided to the home team so the next team, whether it’s Europe or America, that is able to win away from home will probably go down as one of the greatest Ryder Cup teams in history. Obviously this week we have a chance to do that.

“I’ve been fortunate to have had a great career individually and an amazing career in the Ryder Cup being a part of these teams. If we were to win this week it would be up there with one of the greatest accomplishments of my career.

“It would mean a lot to me. Obviously I know it would mean a lot to my team-mates and everyone that’s put their heart and soul into making sure we’re the best prepared we can be.”

McIlroy, who delighted his supporters by landing the Irish Open in the same year he completed the career grand slam, said his focus has been on peaking for this weekend since the Open Championship, and it was aided by victory at the K Club.

He feels the team are ready to deal with whatever atmosphere crops up away from home.

McIlroy explained: “Once Portrush was done with, the next thing I was looking towards was this.

“I think I played four tournaments between then. I had that great finish at the Irish Open. My last month or six weeks has just been thinking about this week and making sure I’m as prepared as I can be to play well and put some points on the board for Europe.

“The Ryder Cup; it’s emotion, it’s controlling your energy, it’s really controlling yourself and making sure that you get the best out of yourself in an environment that you’re not really used to. There’s been a lot of talk about that this week but I think we’re ready.”

Additional reporting: Greg Allen

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