Team Ireland professional Conor O'Rourke was the leading Irish player after the opening day of the Northern Ireland Open supported by The R&A at Galgorm Spa & Golf Resort.

Despite the testing conditions, O'Rourke steered a steady course to sign for an opening one-under-par 69 that left him three shots behind leader Julien Quesne of France.

Scores

"It’s just a serious test of golf," said O'Rourke, who pointed to the difficulty of club selection in swirling wind conditions. . You have to knuckle down every hole, there are blind spots out there that will catch you. It was nice to grab a couple (of birdies) late on.”

Quesne opened with a 66 to lead by a shot from countryman Clement Berardo, America's Tyler Koivisto and English duo Bradley Moore and Alfie Plant.

"Wind was swirling a lot out there. It can twist very quickly and make you look a little bit silly sometimes," added O'Rourke (29).

"Caught me a couple of times and committing to the shot is difficult. Just have to commit and pull the trigger and hope it's the right one. The course is in incredible shape for how much rain there has been."

JR Galbraith was next best of the Irish, tied for 27th on level par after a 70 with David Carey, Niall Kearney and amateur Tom McKibbin joint 43rd after signing for one-over 71s.

Whitehead professional Galbraith was an early starter and despite losing two balls with errant tee shots at the third and 16th he finished strongly with birdies at the 17th and 18th.

Stuart Grehan dropped three shots on the last two holes to card a 73 that left him tied for 75th with Gary Hurley and Ronan Mullarney while disability golfer Brendan Lawlor gave a good account of himself to sign for a four-over 74 that left him tied for 90th with Portmarnock's Conor Purcell.

Lawlor's three birdies included a four at the 18th where he fired his approach from 100 yards to six feet and holed out.

"It's great to be back out competing," Lawlor said. "Less media hype on me this week compared to last week. I've come in with a new mindset, a new focus on my game. I know I can go out and shoot good scores and want to prove it here this week. I feel I did okay today. Tomorrow I'll take the same approach as I did today, looking forward to it.

"There's less media hype on me this week compared to last week! I've come in with a new mindset, a new focus on my game. I know I can go out and shoot good scores. Tomorrow I'll take the same approach as I did today."

Tournament Ambassador Michael Hoey had a nightmare finish to his round. Having worked his way into position to be one-under through 13 holes, he dropped seven shots in the last five holes, including a quadruple-bogey nine at the 18th.

Hoey pulled his tee shot left into the trees before compounding the error with this second ball when he took an incorrect drop and relief from course signage on the par-five and incurred a two-stroke penalty. He eventually holed a good putt from the back of the green for an untimely nine.

It all added up to a 76 that left Hoey tied for 104th with Galgorm Castle amateur Josh Hill, Dermot McElroy, Ruaidhri McGee and Robin Dawson while Paul McBride was 121st after a 79.

"I didn't get off to a good start," said Hill (17) who had a quadruple-bogey eight at the third, a double-bogey five at the seventh and a double-bogey seven at the last as well as one bogey and three birdies..

"As the round went on, I gained confidence and started playing well. Disappointing to lose a ball off the tee at 18th, that didn't help. Caught on the wind and went into the trees. Apart from that I played really well on the back nine.

"It's hard to commit to the shots when the wind is swirling like it is out there. Hard to judge. Conditions are great, greens are rolling well even though it's been wet.

"I'm just here for the experience this week. Great to get the chance to play with the pros and see how they do things and see if I can learn anything and improve my game. I've been working hard the last two months since lockdown eased. Working with Barrie (McGoldrick), one of the pros here at Galgorm. Hopefully, I can shoot a good score tomorrow."

Leader Quesne carded just a single bogey on day one in Ballymena and was pleased with his return to competitive action.

"I have been playing well for two or three weeks and the game is feeling better," he said. "I started well with two birdies and after that I just made a couple of putts.

"It was really windy today. We only had one hole with rain, so it was okay. The wind made the course quite difficult and I'm quite happy with my score today.

"It's good to be back. I'm playing well so I just want to have the best week I can. I'll focus on every shot and we'll see where we are at the end." England's Plant, who won the Silver Medal at The 2017 Open Championship, believes avoiding the thick Galgorm Castle rough was key to posting a good opening score.

"It was a little bit scrappy out there," he said. "The rough is so thick so whenever you miss the fairway you're scrambling for pars. I made some key putts to keep the momentum going and it was nice to come in with no bogeys.

"If you feel like you're hitting your driver well, you've got to go for it and be further down in the rough. If you do take a three-wood or an iron off the tee and you do miss the fairway then you're miles back. I think, sometimes, it's worth the gamble hitting the driver.

"I think as golfers, you always have expectations. We put in so many hours, you expect to shoot 59 every week and step up, but it doesn't quite work like that.

"I've played a few events now on the European Tour and Challenge Tour, so I feel like I've got enough experience now. As long as my game's in the right place, I feel like I can compete." A group of 11 players share sixth place on two under par, including Scottish trio Craig Ross, Euan Walker and Daniel Young, Swedish duo Björn Hellgren and Mikael Lundberg, English pair Chris Cannon and Ben Talbot, Denmark's Martin Ovesen, USA's Dodge Kemmer, Iceland's Gudmundur Kristjansson and Italian Enrico Di Nitto, who was the only player in the field to card a blemish-free round.

Northern Ireland Open Supported by The R&A, Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Ballymena (Par 70)

Scores

66 J Quesne (Fra), 

67 T Koivisto (USA), C Berardo (Fra), B Moore (Eng), A Plant (Eng), 

68 B Hellgren (Swe), C Cannon (Eng), B Talbot (Eng), G Kristjansson (Isl), M Lundberg (Swe), E Di Nitto (Ita), M Ovesen (Den), D Young (Sco), C Ross (Sco), E Walker (Sco), D Kemmer (USA), 

69 N Kimsey (Eng), K Johannessen (Nor), J Allan (Eng), C O'Rourke (Irl), C Mivis (Bel), J Grenville-wood (Eng), S Tarrio (Esp), R Dinwiddie (Eng), M Galiano Aguilar (Esp), S Manley (Wal), 

70 N Johansson (Swe), B Neil (Sco), G CastagnarA (Ita), T Sloman (Eng), A Palmer (Eng), M Penge (Eng), H Arkenau (Ger), A Willey (Eng), J Galbraith (Nir), S Towndrow (Eng), J Floydd (Eng), R Petersson (Swe), D Gavins (Eng), R Van West (Ned), P Langfors (Swe), M Ford (Eng), 

71 M Elvira (Esp), R Evans (Eng), J Wrisdale (Eng), N Kearney (Irl), C Robb (Sco), W Enefer (Eng), T McKibbin (Am) (Nir), D Quinones (USA), H Ellis (Eng), A Wilson (Eng), H Sturehed (Swe), B Rusch (Sui), E Dubois (Fra), V Riu (Fra), J Axelsen (Den), D Carey (Irl), T Clements (Eng), A Knappe (Ger), D Borda (Esp), J Fahrbring (Swe), 

72 G Bourdy (Fra), F Maccario (Ita), S Matus (Cze), M Bullen (Eng), L Owen (Eng), J Sandborg (Swe), D Boote (Wal), J Lando Casanova (Fra), C Braeunig (Ger), G Bloor (Eng), J Dantorp (Swe), G Higgo (RSA),

73 A Zemmer (Ita), M Waite (Eng), R Mullarney (Irl), B Follett-Smith (Zim), G King (Eng), H Magnus (Isl), A Kopp (Aut), J Sainz (Esp), S Fernandez (Esp), N Kristensen (Den), F Lacroix (Fra), C Sahlstrom (Swe), S Grehan (Irl), G Hurley (Irl), A Bjornsson (Isl), 

74 S Forsstrom (Swe), L Nemecz (Aut), M Wiegele (Aut), S Gregory (Eng), M Orrin (Eng), J Kunzenbacher (Ger), B Hutchinson (Eng), B Lawlor (Irl), J Girrbach (Sui), C Knipes (Eng), C Purcell (Irl), 

75 J Vecchi Fossa (Ita), S Henry (Sco), R Mansell (Eng), 

76 M Hoey (Nir), R Dawson (Irl), B Gill (Eng), A John (Ger), H Woan (Eng), J Hill (Am) (Nir), N Moller (Den), D McElroy (Nir), R McGee (Irl), 

77 F Mory (Fra), R Harmer (Eng), 

78 J Thomson (Eng), R De Sousa (Sui), J Kolbing (Ger), M Eggenberger (Sui), H Du Plessis (RSA), J Harrison (Eng), 

79 P McBride (Irl), S Ferreira (Por), 

80 M Grassotti (Swe), M Rush (USA), E Lipparelli (Ita), J Hassan (Eng), 

81 F Daux (Fra), 

82 J Ochoa (Esp), 

RET M Decottignies-Lafon (Fra),