Rory McIlroy's first true test at the Waste Management Phoenix Open didn't go the smoothest as the world's No. 1 golfer found himself in a tough spot by the second hole.

McIlroy was playing the tournament for the second time in his career - but the first with no crowd restrictions, meaning he was facing the Phoenix Open's notorious fans for the first time. 

After bogeying the first hole at TPC Scottsdale, McIlroy hooked his tee shot at the par-4 second hole - landing up against a fence and with trees directly in front of him and within the flight path of his ball.

Instead of playing it safe, McIlroy chose to attack the hole, playing something between a half swing shot and a punch shot to keep the ball below the trees and heading right to the green.

The Northern Irishman succeeded in his attempt, with the ball rolling on the green, albeit 43 feet from the hole.

McIlroy ended up rolling his first putt to within three feet, before he tapped in for par to finish the hole.

He didn't have the greatest of rounds, finishing the day at two-over-par, including four bogeys across the scorecard, matched with birdies on the par-5 15th and the par-4 17th holes. 

McIlroy scored par on the famous 'Coliseum' par-3 16th hole.

On Wednesday, McIlroy spoke about playing the course in front of its fans at full-strength, saying that having a few events of this magnitude will help 'grow the game.'

He also said this tournament deserved to be one of the PGA Tour's 'designated events' that saw purses balloon to $20million and a winners check of over $3m.

'I think this tournament is a wonderful spectacle for the game of golf,' he said.

'I think to have hundreds of thousands of fans at this event, I mean, I think it was obvious that this was one that needed to have that status.'