McIlroy blown off course

Rory McIlroy came down to earth with a bump as high winds caused havoc in the Portuguese Open.

Just five days after his play-off win in the Sherry Cup, the Holywood hotshot crashed to an eight over par 79 in his 10th European Tour appearance.

Winds gusting up to 30 mph made putting a lottery and McIlroy finished the day a massive 12 shots behind leader Simon Dyson after mixing two birdies with five bogeys, a double and a triple.

And it was almost as bad for struggling Paul McGinley as he had two sevens - a double and a triple bogey - in a miserable 76 at Quinta da Marinha near Lisbon.

Leader Dyson took advantage of less demanding early conditions to fire a four under par 67 and snatch a one-stroke lead over English rookie Ross McGowan, Scot Stephen Gallacher and South African Louis Oosthuizen.

Peter Lawrie and Gary Murphy both fired two over par 73s while Damien McGrane had seven bogeys in a 77 - his worst score since he shot 79 at Wentworth a year ago and withdrew with illness.