Defending champion Jose Maria Olazabal is just two shots off the lead at the Novotel Perrier French Open after a top-class start in Paris.
Spain's Jose Maria Olazabal had to settle for a mixed bag of shots as he began his defence of the French Open title with a round of 69.
The 36-year-old admitted to a string of poor drives and several indifferent iron strokes as he mixed seven birdies with a double-bogey and two bogeys to lie two shots behind Swedish leader Marten Olander in the first round.
Olazabal looked to heading for a low score when he conjured up three birdies after starting with three pars in the cold and rain at Le National.
But things went awry as his notorious driving put him on the wrong track, despite his hard work over the last year with Butch Harmon, who also coaches Tiger Woods.
"I'm pleased with the score but unhappy with the inconsistency," Olazabal said. "I hit a few bad shots, one of them really costly on the second.
"I pulled a seven-iron left, the worst shot you can hit there, and made a double.
"There were a few good shots, though, and that's the reason I'm three-under-par, but I need to be more consistent.
"On the 15th, I hit an eight-iron 147 yards and pitched the ball three inches from the hole before it finished three feet away.
"And I hit a lovely second shot with a one-iron at the third hole after my double.
"But I missed a lot of fairways and I'm not really happy with the way I struck the ball today. It was not properly hit.
"And hitting bad iron shots is not like me."
Olazabal reckoned he had come close to the six really bad shots the legendary Walter Hagen once maintained every player might hit in a round.
"I've heard that Hagen said that," Olazabal said after finishing at three-under-par. "Frankly I feel you need less than that. If you are hitting six really bad shots you are in trouble.
"I feel you can hit a few indifferent shots and maybe one or two bad ones, but six is too much."
In the absence of Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke (both nursing injury problems) and Paul McGinley, Irish hopes of success rest on the shoulders of Des Smyth, Philip Walton and Ronan Rafferty.
Walton struggled around the Paris course and slumped to a six-over par total of 78. Smyth, the oldest winner on the European Tour, coped considerably better and is one-under after 16 holes while Rafferty will wish to forget his round of 79.