Rory McIlroy made a strong start to his bid for the Dubai Invitational title, carding an opening-round 66 to take a one-shot lead.
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The World Number Two, who started at the tenth, was inches from an opening eagle before he climbed to two under at the 11th with a close-range birdie at Dubai Creek Resort.
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He slid a four-foot par putt by at the 12th, but responded immediately with birdies at the 13th and the par-three 14th thanks to a stunning tee-shot. The Northern Irishman took the outright lead at four under with another gain at the 17th and when finished his front nine with another birdie, he was two shots clear.
McIlroy was in relentless form as he rolled in his seventh birdie of the day, and third in a row, at the first to extend his advantage to three strokes at six under. His momentum stalled as he carded a dropped shot and seven pars to close his first round of the year in 66 and take the clubhouse lead at five under.
Connor Syme and David Puig were one shot behind McIlroy at four under – each carding five birdies and a bogey in their 67s.
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Matt Wallace rolled in four straight birdies around the turn to surge ahead at seven under, but endured a rollercoaster day including an eagle, two further birdies, three dropped shots and a double bogey to sit in a tie for fifth at three under alongside Oliver Lindell, Spaniard Angel Ayora, and French pair Julien Guerrier and Antoine Rozner.
There was a minute’s silence held at 1.30pm local time for the 40 victims of the Crans-Montana fire at New Year, which included rising Italian talent Emanuele Galeppini, who was about to start his tenure as Junior Captain at Dubai Creek Resort.
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Black ribbons were worn by players, caddies and DP World Tour staff as a mark of respect.
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Player quotes
Rory McIlroy: Yeah, it was good. I got off to a great start, played a very good first nine. And then the wind got up a little bit and felt like that front nine, which was our second nine, was the trickier one. And 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.
If there’s help to be had, I’ll definitely take it. Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it for a while (changing irons). And even in Dubai at the end of last year, I hit a couple of five-irons that I mis-struck slightly, and instead of it maybe coming up five or seven yards short, it was coming up more like 10 to 15 yards short.
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So I asked the guys at TaylorMade to build me up a set. And I actually went down to Australia with them, and with that firm turf down there, I felt like those irons were going through the turf better than the blades.
And I practised with them at home since. And I’ve got a new golf ball in play this week as well, the new 2026 ball. So overall, I like what I’ve seen at home, and today was a good test for it, and I felt like everything was pretty good.
