Francesco Laporta matched the lowest round of his DP World Tour career to take a three-shot lead after round one of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.
The Italian carded an eagle and eight birdies in a bogey-free 62 to get to 10-under at Yas Links, three shots clear of former World Number One Jon Rahm, Englishman Sam Bairstow and Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger.
The top 70 available players from the Race to Dubai Rankings Delivered by DP World are teeing it up in this week’s first Play-Off event, with the top 50 then moving on to the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
Laporta entered the week ranked 57th but will be assured of a place in Dubai if he can maintain anything like the form he showed on day one over the weekend.
The 36-year-old took advantage of the par-five second and then holed a 30-footer on the fifth for another birdie.
He was ten feet further away at the par-five seventh but rolled in his eagle putt and followed that with a pair of gains to turn in 30.
He picked up another shot on a par five at the 11th and followed that with a brilliant tee shot on the par-three 13th, an approach to 12 feet at the next and another 40-foot putt on the 16th to storm clear of the field.
Bairstow was the last man in the field and the first man out in the morning, making the most of his opportunity by carding seven birdies in a bogey-free effort.
Spaniard Rahm was playing the event for the first time and was also bogey-free as he looks to make it to Dubai next week.
Wiesberger is currently on track for dual membership with the PGA Tour and he carded eight birdies and a single bogey to sit a shot ahead of England’s Matthew Jordan and Pole Adrian Meronk.
Defending champion Aaron Rai, fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, in-form Japanese Yuto Katsuragawa, China’s Wenyi Ding, South African Shaun Norris and Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan were then a further shot back.
In the battle to win the Race to Dubai, leader Eugenio Chacarra carded a round of 70 to sit at two under, while second-placed Patrick Reed recorded a two over par 74.
Third-placed Rory McIlroy, who is chasing an eighth Race to Dubai title, also signed for a 70, with his total including a two-shot penalty on the 12th hole under Rule 8.1b(4). Statement as follows:
Rory McIlroy was penalised two strokes under Rule 8.1b(4) for his actions immediately before playing his fourth stroke, his second chip shot from the rough, on the 12th hole during round one of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.
Rule 8.1b(4) permits a player to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball. “Ground the club lightly” means allowing the weight of the club to be supported by the grass on or above the ground surface and there is no penalty even if the lie is improved. However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground.
Having reviewed the footage, McIlroy was unable to say whether he had pressed the club on the ground or not. However, given his concern over perception of the footage, he was not comfortable proceeding without penalty. He therefore chose to apply a two stroke penalty.
Player Quotes
Francesco Laporta: I mean, today, everything was in perfect shape. So, my short game was really good, I just started to make some putts from No. 6 on.
Long game was pretty good. I had a lot of opportunities. So just enjoy the round, enjoy the place. The course is amazing. The ball is running so good on the greens, probably the best greens of the year.
Everything was just going like a video game, like just hitting shots straight and making some putts and just giving myself opportunities.
I’m very happy about that. Actually, I was struggling a bit in the last few days. So I had a lot of time on the range yesterday, and I spent a lot of time on the greens, just understand how to work around the lines and the spin because the greens, they’re pure, but they’re also quick. So now it works.
