Swede Peter Hanson leading the opening round of Dubai World Championship as Rory McIlroy closes in
Swede Peter Hanson outsmarted the rest of the high profile field on the first day of the Dubai World Championship, surging to the top of the leadreborad with a brilliant eight-under, 64. Hanson, who has been lurking in shadows after his successful Ryder
Cup bid last year, has played well in the UBS Hong Kong event and is hoping to break his winless spree in the closing event on the European Tour. He levelled the course record of 64 here at Jumeirah Golf Estate set by Lee Westwood some two years ago
"I think it's the best golf I've played," said Hanson. "It's quite a demanding course and the wind picked up a little bit over the back nine. I'm very, very happy with the way I struck the ball - and I rolled a few putts in."
Hanson carded eight birdies without dropping a single shot in the opening stretch, with most of the birdies coming on the back nine. The 34-year-old Swede is now one shot clear of the nearest contender Scot Paul Lawrie who carded a round of seven-under,
65.
Meanwhile, tournament favourite, Rory McIlroy pulled in another glamorous opening round at the tough windy course, posting six-under, 66. The young Irishman had to face tough resistance earlier in the day when high winds swept the scenic course causing him
to suffer with a dreadful double-bogey at par-five, 2nd and recovered just in time to contain the damage. He carded nine birdies and stumbled on just one more bogey in the 18-hole stretch.
"It's sort of taken the pressure off. I'm not 100 per cent and there's nothing I can do about it.” said McIlroy. I made three silly mistakes on the front nine but stayed patient and the back nine was pretty much flawless.”
The 22-year-old US Open champion is hoping to topple Luke Donald from the top of the Race to Dubai Money List and needs at least runners up finish to accomplish the feat. Donald, the current world number one suffered a disappointing even-par, 72 and finished
at joint 22nd down the leaderboard. He needs a top-nine finish to retain his money leader title on the European Tour.
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