Joaquin Niemann, of Chile, plays from the rough on the first hole during the first round of the Irish Open golf tournament, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2026, in Doonbeg, Ireland. (Brian Lawless/PA via AP)

DOONBEG, Ireland (AP) — Joaquin Niemann ran off four straight birdies down the closing stretch at the Irish Open on Thursday that carried him to a 5-under 65 and a two-shot lead among those who managed to finish in wind strong enough to slow play and keep the round from finishing.

Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm faced the worst of the wind at Trump International, the cliffside course along the Atlantic Coast.

Lowry played bogey-free on the back nine, saving par with a 10-foot putt on the 17th hole, and came in at 67. He was tied with Shaun Norris of South Africa, while three others — including Adrian Meronk — were on 3 under and unable to finish before darkness.

Patrick Reed, who leads the Race to Dubai over McIlroy, was among those players at 68.

“I felt like I did a solid job of making pars and trying to get to the clubhouse as quick as I could,” Lowry said. “I honestly didn’t think we were going to get finished. That’s probably the longest round of golf I ever played, in a three-ball, anyway. I'm happy with my score.”

McIlroy, the defending champion, kept bogeys off his card until a blunder on the tough par-4 13th. His tee shot rolled into a bunker and the shot hit the lip and came back into the sand. McIlroy tried the same shot, and this one hit below the lip and skipped out of the sand and onto the fairway. It led to a double bogey.

That was his only hole over par. He picked up one more birdie and settled for a 69.

I was just trying to get those two shots back by the end of the day," McIlroy said. “Didn’t quite do that, but I think finishing under par for the day was a reasonable effort."

He played alongside Brooks Koepka, the five-time major champion making his first start in a month. Koepka hit into the high grass on the opening hole, had to play another shot from the fairway and started with a triple bogey. He shot 75.

McIlroy found more than the wind to be difficult. Because the conditions were so severe and the field had 138 players, the rounds took in the neighborhood of six hours. On some occasions, two groups of threesomes were waiting on the same tee.

“This course isn’t conducive to letting you get in a flow,” McIlroy said. “Especially the first two days with so many people in the field, there’s a lot of stopping and starting. Look, it’s hard when you’re playing a round of golf and it takes six hours. It’s hard to get into the rhythm of things.”

Niemann, who set a record with nine victories in the LIV Golf League, was superb in keeping his iron shots below the wind and his finishing kick was sublime, with no putt longer than 7 feet during his late run of birdies.

“You got to hit those tee shots and keep it under the wind, left-to-right wind, right-to-left wind,” Niemann said. “Like every shot into the wind, just times 100 probably. So if it’s a bad shot, it’s a really bad shot. But if it’s a good shot, it was so nice to see it.”

Meronk was through 15 holes. Maximilian Steinlechner was 3 under through 13 holes, while Renato Paratore was 3 under through 12 holes. They had the best chance of catching Niemann when the first round resumes Friday morning.

Tom McKibbin, who played with Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, was in the group of players who joined Reed at 68. Jon Rahm opened with a 70.

Thomas Detry had the highlight of the day, hitting out of the rough from about 230 yards with the wind at his back on the par-5 10th. The ball bounced some 30 yards short, rolled onto the green and into the cup for an albatross. But he played his final six holes in 5 over and shot 74.

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