The start left the six-time major winner in contention on a week that also shapes the Race to Dubai. Spain's Eugenio Chacarra leads him by 533.93 points, with 2,000 available to this week's winner.
"I think it was a pretty fair score,"McIlroy said.
Five birdies against two bogeys left him three under par. Luiten, two shots clear, was five under. Chacarra's level-par 72, five back of the leader, fitted that sum on a course where even par is 72.
Chacarra, who has won three times already this season, finished his front nine with three straight birdies and turned in a two-under 34.
He dropped shots at the 13th and the 15th and closed on that level-par 72, five behind Luiten.
American Patrick Reed, third in the Race to Dubai standings, struggled and shot 75.
The wind kept the opening day from turning into a low-scoring rush. McIlroy treated a card of five birdies and two bogeys as a fair return, and as a round that kept him in the event rather than one that decided it.