Rory McIlroy, Tom McKibbin and Pádraig Harrington are side by side on two-under-par after opening rounds of 70 at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.
The trio are five shots off the early pace set by David Micheluzzi, Ricardo Gouveia and American amateur David Ford at Emirates Golf Club.
For McIlroy, it was a first outing since winning the DP World Tour Championship and a sixth Race to Dubai title last November and after a slow start left him on one-over after eight holes he came to life with birdies on the 18th, 2nd and a chip in on the 7th to keep his hopes of a fifth Desert Classic title alive and third in a row.
“Yeah, pretty scrappy. Actually I felt I played probably better the first eight holes where I was 1-over compared to the last ten where I was 3-under,” said McIlroy after his round.
“Yeah, it was a bit scrappy. First competitive round of the year. First competitive round in a while. A little uncomfortable over some shots. Definitely not as comfortable as I was in practise and coming in here.
“But it’s nice to get a card in your hand. It sort of exposes the things that you need to work on. I got it around today. I got it around and got it in in a couple under, which is nice, and didn’t put myself out of the tournament, which is the main thing.”
For the second week in a row, there are a lot of eyes on the performance of McKibbin as strong links with a move to LIV Golf continue to hang over him but the Holywood man came very close to a blemish free round.
The 22-year-old was four-under through ten holes of his opening round after birdies on 11, 16, 18 and the first before a double bogey on the 6th sucked the wind from his sails late on.
Three-time major winner Harrington was also denied a bogey free start to his week after a two-foot par putt on the last slipped by.
But the Dubliner looked very comfortable after the winter break, rolling in birdies on the par fives 10th, 13th and 18th to join his compatriots in a share of 26th place.
The headlines however, have been grabbed by American amateur Ford who won the World Amateur Team Championships in Abu Dhabi last year as part of a star studded USA team that included Nick Dunlap and Gordon Sargent.
The former Walker Cup player had several chances to take the outright lead but had to settle for a seven-under 65 to lie alongside Micheluzzi and Gouveia.
Starting on the back nine, the tournament debutant opened his account brilliantly with an eagle on the 10th and responded with a birdie on the par-5 13th.
The 22-year-old dropped his only shot on the par-3 15th but roared into the lead with five birdies in a row.
“It was great. I got a couple 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.”
The left hander is ranked 6th in the world amateur golf rankings and is destined for a PGA Tour card as he tops the PGA Tour University rankings so he looks a player who is ready for the big stage.
“I try to keep my expectations low. I know where my game is at right now and I have got a lot of people around me believing in me which is really helpful going into this week. I just tried to have fun. Just come out here and do the preparation that I do for college events and just keep everything really simple and keep having fun.”
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