EUROPEAN

• 19-year-old McIlroy leads in Switzerland

  
  

  Crans Montana, Switzerland (Sports Network) - Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, the 19-year-old former amateur star, fired an eight-under 63 on Thursday to take the lead after the first round of the European Masters.

  McIlroy birdied eight of his final 14 holes and held a three-shot lead over Argentina's Julio Zapata and Welshmen Garry Houston and Kyron Sullivan.

  Four-under 67 was a popular score at the picturesque Crans-sur-Sierre course, with defending champion Brett Rumford leading eight players who shared fifth place on that number.

  Eight more players, including European Ryder Cup team member Miguel Angel Jimenez, posted matching three-under 68s to round out the list of 19 players who finished within five shots of the young leader.

  McIlroy, the 2006 European Amateur champion, collected nine total birdies on Thursday to post his lowest round since he turned professional almost a year ago in the midst of a coming-out year that included his opening-round 68 in the British Open.

  Despite making just one bogey to go with all of those birdies, the young Ulsterman wasn't necessarily 100 percent pleased with his round.

  "Golf's such a fickle game," said McIlroy, who turned pro after playing on the losing Great Britain & Ireland team at last year's Walker Cup. "I could go and play better than that and shoot level par." Although there is only one round in the books, McIlroy could wind up making a little history if he can hang on to win this weekend.

  Only two players younger than him have ever earned a title on the European Tour: Dale Hayes, who was 18 years and 290 days old when he won the 1971 Spanish Open; and Hall of Famer Seve Ballesteros, a three-time European Masters champion, who was 121 days past his 19th birthday when he claimed the 1976 Dutch Open.

  McIlroy turned 19 years old on May 4 of this year -- 123 days before he teed off on Thursday.

  Despite a string of good finishes at the end of last season -- including two top-fives -- McIlroy has struggled to make cuts in his first full year as a professional.

  He has missed each of the last three weekends, and six of the last nine overall since posting a seventh-place finish at the Irish Open in May.

  "I've done a lot of work in the last few weeks [because] I've had a lot of time on my hands at weekends," said McIlroy. "I feel like I've been hitting it really well, but the results have not shown it." Thursday, the results were there.

  Among McIlroy's birdie holes was the 598-yard 14th -- his fifth hole -- where he hit driver and eight-iron to set up the second of his nine birdies. Later, he would birdie three consecutive holes near the end of the round to take a solid lead heading into the clubhouse.

  McIlroy, playing on the mountain course for the first time this week, said he enjoys how far the ball goes in the thin air. He called it a "fun course." "As a kid I always played by feel...and here whatever it looks like you just go for it," he said.

  09/04 14:41:21 ET