Irish Open First Round: John O'Sullivan sees two of the lesser lights shining bright at Carton House

Rory McIlroy illustrated the resilience of youth over the Montgomerie Course at Carton House yesterday to card a superb one-under-par 71, a round of rare possession in one so young. There were no signs of any scars left by his first experience of professional golf and the invitation to the British Masters at a wind-assailed Forest of Arden course last week.

Ireland's precociously talented 16-year-old amateur shot 82, 81, but it tarnished neither his confidence nor his game. An indication of a top quality sportsman is the ability to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.

At the Forest of Arden McIlroy got off to a bad start and by his own admission started chasing birdies in an attempt to rectify the damage and make the cut. Conditions militated against such a cavalier approach and the Holywood golfer found himself unable to step off a treadmill of bogeys.

When the West of Ireland champion strode from the first green yesterday it was to record a bogey five on the card. His resolve didn't waiver. "I'm striking it well. Last week was not representative of how I'm playing. (This time) it was about deciding on a gameplan and sticking to it.

"It was about hitting fairways and greens and (realising) the birdies will come. I got off to a bit of a shaky start, but then settled in nicely and played well. Even if I shot 71 or 81 I was just going out to enjoy myself."

Far from balking at last week's tribulations McIlroy turned it into a positive. "Last week was an experience and I have brought that forward to this week. I knew how difficult the golf course was (as) I have played it many times before. You just have to hit fairways. It's about patience and waiting for chances and there are a few birdie chances out there.

"Last week I didn't get off to a great start, had a go at it and tried to make the cut but it didn't come off. (This time) I stuck to my gameplan."

His priority was - and still is - to make the cut and on the evidence of the way he compiled his round, especially the back nine, he could well fulfil it.

Just five minutes after the young Down man, one of Ireland's fledgling professionals, 25-year-old Colm Moriarty was next to explain his afternoon's work, a superb three-under regulation figures that saw him finish the day as the leading Irishman.

Having turned in two under, the Athlone man supplanted two bogeys with a further three birdies. He attributed his success to patience, his excellent driving and recent work with his golf coach Brendan McDaid and sports psychologist Liam Moggan - the latter also worked with snooker player Ken Doherty. He absorbed the advice. "I have been working a lot on visualisation over the last couple of weeks. As Brendan said to me on the range, 'if you come here to make the cut then that's where you'll hover. You are hitting the ball well enough to play well,' and that's what I'm trying to do. I set out to try and release my game.

"My caddie Damien Kelly, a friend from Athlone, was with me last week in Italy and has caddied for me in a lot of big events: he knows how to handle it. That's important. He was on the range when Brendan was working with me and was there with Liam the other night. It's nice to have two of us singing off the same hymn sheet."

Before heading off to the range Moriarty stressed the importance of retaining a sense of perspective. There are no cheques handed out on a Thursday.