David Micheluzzi signed for a bogey-free, 7-under 65 featuring four consecutive birdies from the 15th to take a share of the lead at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
“Everyone is saying how tough it was and today I played great. There’s nothing more to it,” said the Australian.
“It was nice for the first, I’d say 11, 12 holes and then the wind got up a little bit. Just kept hitting good shots, and stumped a few shots where I probably wasn’t aiming. Got lucky with those, and then holed some nice putts coming in.”
Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia made a single bogey at the par-4 6th to take his share of the lead.
“One of those days everything went really well,” said Gouveia. “I hit some good tee shots, some good second shots. Holed some good putts, as well, and that’s key out here. You’ve got to be on the fairway to be able to attack these pins, and that’s what I did today.
“I knew someone could shoot a low one, but yeah, I knew it was going to be really tough to do it. Like you said, the rough is really thick, really tall. It’s hard to get close to these pins if you’re not on the fairway, but if you get on a hot streak, I guess you can go low.
“Just knowing that I can perform under the gun, under that amount of pressure, it’s really important, and just gave me a lot of confidence, obviously.”
American amateur David Ford opened with an eagle at the par-5 10th, six birdies and a bogey at the par-3 15th for his share of the lead on Thursday at the Emirates GC.
“It was great,” said Ford. “I got a couple of putts to fall that I didn’t know were going to go in, hit a lot of good iron shots. I love where the pins were set up today. I felt like a lot of them fit my eye.
“Overall, solid. Definitely missed a few shots and want a few swings back but overall, felt good about it.”
Italy’s Guido Migliozzi lies in solo fourth place at 6-under after a bogey-free 66.
Scotland’s Ewen Ferguson and Calum Hill are tied in fifth place at 5-under alongside France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Australia’s Jason Scrivener.
Hero Dubai Desert Classic defending champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland lies in T26 at 2-under after carding a 70.
