Abu Dhabi Championship first-round leaderboard

-10 F Laporta (Ita); -7 S Bairstow (Eng), J Rahm (Spa), B Wiesberger (Aut); -6 A Meronk (Pol), M Jordan (Eng)

Selected others: -5 T Hatton (Eng), A Rai (Eng), K Reitan (Nor); -4 A Scott (Aus), M Wallace (Eng); -3 E Ferguson (Sco), J Dean (Eng); -2 R McIlroy (NI), E Chacarra (Spa), F Molinari (Ita), T Fleetwood (Eng); +2 P Reed (US)

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Rory McIlroy has been hit with a two-shot penalty for improving his lie during the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

The six-time major winner was deemed to have improved his lie by pressing down on the grass behind his ball with his club before hitting a chip on the par-four 12th at Yas Links.

In a statement, the DP World Tour said McIlroy had breached rule 8.1b(4), which permits a player “to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball”.

The statement added: “‘Ground the club lightly’ means allowing the weight of the club to be supported by the grass on or above the ground surface and there is no penalty even if the lie is improved.

“However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground.”

The infraction, which was assessed following his round, changed his six to a quadruple-bogey eight – his only dropped shots of the round – and meant he signed for a two-under 70.

Northern Ireland’s McIlroy, who is chasing a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title, looked to have made a strong start to the tournament with a four-under 68, but the impact of the penalty instead leaves him eight shots adrift of leader Francesco Laporta.

The 37-year-old said that while “obviously there’s no intent” on his part, he is “happy” to accept the penalty.

“I play by the rules,” said the world number two.

He added: “I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions.

“But just by looking at the video, like it doesn’t look very good. Obviously that wasn’t my intent. I’m just trying to get a feel for the lie.”

McIlroy added: “The ball is in a sort of bottom of a sandy divot. I’m trying to feel like if I can get a 54-degree [wedge] on to the back of the ball, but in the process, this piece of grass has sort of laid down, and I guess the technical term for the rule is if you press down on the piece.

“I don’t feel like I pressed down. But at the same time, I don’t want the perception of people thinking like I got away with something either, so I’m happy to take a two-shot penalty and move on and move into tomorrow.”

The penalty leaves McIlroy tied with Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra on two under. American Patrick Reed – who sits second in the standings, one position ahead of McIlroy – struggled in an opening 74.

McIlroy turned in a two-under 34 and birdied the 11th before running into trouble at the 12th, where his first chip from just off the green rolled back down to his feet.

He picked up three shots in a row from the 14th but failed to birdie the par-five 18th before being informed of the rules incident.

Spaniard Chacarra, who leads playing partners Reed and McIlroy in the season-long standings following three victories this year, carded six birdies and four bogeys in a messy opening round while Reed double-bogeyed the final hole after finding water.

But while the marquee trio all encountered struggles, Laporta surged into a three-shot lead with an opening 62.

Hunting his first DP World Tour win, the Italian produced eight birdies and an eagle, but he had to settle for par on the 18th where an eagle would have given him a course record of 60.

One of Laporta’s closest challengers is Jon Rahm, who impressed in his first round since leaving LIV Golf.

The two-time major winner has not played since the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in September because of the birth of his daughter, but showed few signs of rust during a bogey-free 65.

Rahm sits alongside England’s Sam Bairstow and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, with Matthew Jordan and Adrian Meronk a shot further back.

Defending champion Aaron Rai and fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton carded rounds of 67, while Tommy Fleetwood – who lost to Rai in last year’s play-off – is alongside McIlroy and Chacarra at two under.