Rory McIlroy in contention despite quadruple bogey at Memorial in Dublin

RORY McIlroy recovered from a nightmare quadruple bogey seven on the ninth hole to climb back in touch with the leaders at the midway point of the first round of the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio.

The Northern Irishman went into the tournament after missing two successive cuts for the first time in his career and handing back his world No 1 ranking to Luke Donald, and for a time things looked set to go from bad to worse.

McIlroy found two bunkers and the water at the ninth, but produced two birdies and a fifth-hole eagle for a final total for the round of 71, two shots off the early leaders.

Like McIlroy, Tiger Woods showed signs of a recovery from his recent travails as he posted a two-under-par round of 70, tarnished only by a double-bogey at the par-four 18th hole.

Woods is looking for his fifth title at the Memorial but went to Ohio with few signs of form after finishing below 40th in each of his last three tournaments since winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill. With several leading players still to complete their rounds, four men had reached the clubhouse with rounds of three-under-par 69 – American Blake Adams, Argentina’s Andres Romero and Aaron Baddeley of Australia.

Donald celebrated returning to the world number one spot with a one-under-par 71 which included three birdies and, like Woods, a double bogey on the 18th, while Vijay Singh and Jim Furyk were among those finishing for the day on level par.