Michael Kim signed for an 8-under, bogey-frey 64 at Jumeirah Golf Estates to take a one-shot lead at the DP World Tour Championship.
“Just had everything going. Drove it in the fairway enough times, and I hit my irons really great, and was able to roll some putts in,” said Kim.
“My coach Sean and I worked a quick FaceTime session on Monday night and worked really well.
“Happy to hit that many inside ten feet.”
The American has won once on the DP World Tour so far, at the FedEx Open de France in September.
PGA Tour Championship winner and last week’s runner-up Tommy Fleetwood of England, a Dubai resident, shot a bogey-free 65 and lies in second place.
England’s Andy Sullivan carded a bogey-free 66 to take a share of third place at 6-under alongside South African Thriston Lawrence and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland who both made one bogey.
Related: DP World Tour unveils new Rory McIlroy Award for the player who performs best at major championships
| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KIM, Michael | -8 | 64 |
| 2 | FLEETWOOD, Tommy | -7 | 65 |
| 3 | SULLIVAN, Andy | -6 | 66 |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -6 | 66 |
| | MCILROY, Rory | -6 | 66 |
| 6 | ROBINSON THOMPSON, Brandon | -5 | 67 |
| | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | -5 | 67 |
| | HILLIER, Daniel | -5 | 67 |
| 9 | LOWRY, Shane | -4 | 68 |
| | JORDAN, Matthew | -4 | 68 |
| FORREST, Grant | -4 | 68 | |
| | OLESEN, Jacob Skov | -4 | 68 |
| | ROSE, Justin | -4 | 68 |
| | NEERGAARD-PETERSEN, Rasmus | -4 | 68 |
| | CANTER, Laurie | -4 | 68 |
| | BROWN, Daniel | -4 | 68 |
| | NOREN, Alex | -4 | 68 |
| 18 | SYME, Connor | -3 | 69 |
| | FITZPATRICK, Matt | -3 | 69 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | -3 | 69 |
| | MACINTYRE, Robert | -3 | 69 |
| 22 | CAMPILLO, Jorge | -2 | 70 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | -2 | 70 |
| | MCKIBBIN, Tom | -2 | 70 |
| | KOBORI, Kazuma | -2 | 70 |
| VON DELLINGSHAUSEN, Nicolai | -2 | 70 | |
| | ELVIRA, Nacho | -2 | 70 |
| | HØJGAARD, Rasmus | -2 | 70 |
| | NAKAJIMA, Keita | -2 | 70 |
| | AYORA, Angel | -2 | 70 |
| | HATTON, Tyrrell | -2 | 70 |
| 32 | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -1 | 71 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | -1 | 71 |
| | KRUYSWIJK, Jacques | -1 | 71 |
| | PARRY, John | -1 | 71 |
| 36 | ÅBERG, Ludvig | Par | 72 |
| | VEERMAN, Johannes | Par | 72 |
| | LINDELL, Oliver | Par | 72 |
| | HILL, Calum | Par | 72 |
| | CHACARRA, Eugenio | Par | 72 |
| | REED, Patrick | Par | 72 |
| | MANSELL, Richard | Par | 72 |
| 43 | COUVRA, Martin | +1 | 73 |
| | RAI, Aaron | +1 | 73 |
| | SADDIER, Adrien | +1 | 73 |
| 46 | NORRIS, Shaun | +2 | 74 |
| | LI, Haotong | +2 | 74 |
| | SMYLIE, Elvis | +2 | 74 |
| | REITAN, Kristoffer | +2 | 74 |
| | PENGE, Marco | +2 | 74 |
| 51 | LAGERGREN, Joakim | +3 | 75 |
| | SMITH, Jordan | +3 | 75 |
