Padraig Harrington holds the lead on the opening day of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.

The 2007 winner recorded a superby back-nine at Royal County Down, which featured a run of five birdies across six holes to finish with a 4-under par 67.

He is a shot clear of Denmark's Soren Hansen and Germany's Max Kieffer.

Simon Thornton and amateur Gary Hurley are also going well on 1-under, but Shane Lowry's promising round was halted by three dropped shots over two holes to slip to 2-over.

The talking point of the opening morning was the disastrous start made by Rory McIlroy. The tournament host is bottom of the leaderboard on 9-over par after a disappointing round of 80.