Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy made two bogeys in his opening round at Dubai Creek Resort and closed with a 5-under 66 to take a one-shot lead at the Dubai Invitational.
“It was good. I got off to a great start, played a very good first nine,” said McIlroy.
“Then the wind got up a little bit and felt like that front nine, which was our second nine, was the trickier one.
“I made a silly bogey on three and then didn’t capitalise on the par-five after that.
“So I felt like I left a few out on that side, but I played a really good nine holes of golf. Overall, a nice way to start the year.”
Scot Connor Syme and Spaniard David Puig both made a single bogey for a share of second place at 4-under.
England’s Matt Wallace eagled the par-5 4th and made six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey at the par-3 16th for a 68 and a share of fourth place at 3-under alongside France’s Antoine Rozner (two bogeys) and Julien Guerrier (two bogeys, one double bogey at the par-4 18th) as well as Spain’s Angel Ayora (two bogeys) and Finn Oliver Lindell (one bogey, one double bogey at the 18th).
A minute’s silence was held at 1.30pm local time for the 40 victims of the Crans-Montana fire during New Year celebrations, including emerging Italian talent Emanuele Galeppini, who was about to start his tenure as Junior Captain at Dubai Creek Resort.
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| Pos. | Player | To Par | R1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MCILROY, Rory | -5 | 66 |
| 2 | PUIG, David | -4 | 67 |
| | SYME, Connor | -4 | 67 |
| 4 | ROZNER, Antoine | -3 | 68 |
| | AYORA, Angel | -3 | 68 |
| | GUERRIER, Julien | -3 | 68 |
| | LINDELL, Oliver | -3 | 68 |
| | WALLACE, Matt | -3 | 68 |
| 9 | ELVIRA, Nacho | -2 | 69 |
| | LOWRY, Shane | -2 | 69 |
| HILLIER, Daniel | -2 | 69 | |
| | LAWRENCE, Thriston | -2 | 69 |
| | ARMITAGE, Marcus | -2 | 69 |
| | REED, Patrick | -2 | 69 |
| | FLEETWOOD, Tommy | -2 | 69 |
| | CHACARRA, Eugenio | -2 | 69 |
| | SCHAPER, Jayden | -2 | 69 |
| | LARRAZÁBAL, Pablo | -2 | 69 |
| 19 | HILL, Calum | -1 | 70 |
| | WILLETT, Danny | -1 | 70 |
| | KRUYSWIJK, Jacques | -1 | 70 |
| | FRITTELLI, Dylan | -1 | 70 |
| | BRADBURY, Dan | -1 | 70 |
| | JOHNSTON, Ryggs | -1 | 70 |
| | KATSURAGAWA, Yuto | -1 | 70 |
| 26 | FORREST, Grant | Par | 71 |
| | MANASSERO, Matteo | Par | 71 |
| | NEERGAARD-PETERSEN, Rasmus | Par | 71 |
| | LAGERGREN, Joakim | Par | 71 |
| | MOLINARI, Francesco | Par | 71 |
| | LACROIX, Frederic | Par | 71 |
| 32 | SIEM, Marcel | +1 | 72 |
| | WARING, Paul | +1 | 72 |
| | HARRINGTON, Padraig | +1 | 72 |
| | LUITEN, Joost | +1 | 72 |
| | HIDALGO, Angel | +1 | 72 |
| | FERGUSON, Ewen | +1 | 72 |
| | FOX, Ryan | +1 | 72 |
| | MIGLIOZZI, Guido | +1 | 72 |
| | COUVRA, Martin | +1 | 72 |
| | NORRIS, Shaun | +1 | 72 |
| 42 | LEE, Junghwan | +2 | 73 |
| | OLESEN, Thorbjørn | +2 | 73 |
| | SULLIVAN, Andy | +2 | 73 |
| 45 | WU, Ashun | +3 | 74 |
| | HOSHINO, Rikuya | +3 | 74 |
| | VAN DRIEL, Darius | +3 | 74 |
| | MCKIBBIN, Tom | +3 | 74 |
| | HØJGAARD, Nicolai | +3 | 74 |
| | GAVINS, Daniel | +3 | 74 |
| 51 | RAVETTO, David | +4 | 75 |
| | VON DELLINGSHAUSEN, Nicolai | +4 | 75 |
| | OTAEGUI, Adrian | +4 | 75 |
| | VEERMAN, Johannes | +4 | 75 |
| | NAIDOO, Dylan | +4 | 75 |
| 56 | NORGAARD, Niklas | +5 | 76 |
| | DEL REY, Alejandro | +5 | 76 |
| 58 | OLESEN, Jacob Skov | +7 | 78 |
| 59 | STRYDOM, Ockie | +9 | 80 |
| RETD | MANSELL, Richard | -1 | - |
