Robert Allenby’s splendid opening round seven under par put him in pole position as the opening round of the Dubai World Championship presented by: DP World more than lived up to its billing.
Allenby negotiated the Greg Norman-designed Earth Course in 65 strokes to earn a one shot lead over Order of Merit contender Lee Westwood, Camilo Villegas and Chris Wood after a pulsating first day.
“I hit the ball very well tee to green and, overall, just sort of cruised around,” Allenby said.
“I've always admired Greg Norman and all of the golf courses I've played that have been his, I've always loved them. I think it's a great design.”
“These greens, they are pretty severe in some spots, but very fair and they do give you great opportunities if you hit great shots.”
Westwood, vying with Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer and Ross Fisher for top spot in the money list, also found the stunning venue to his liking as he carded a delightful six under par 66.
Westwood fired three birdies in his last four holes - and seven overall as well as a bogey at the 14th - to not only tame the fabled ‘Golden Mile’ finishing stretch but also sit in a tie for second alongside Villegas and Wood.
“It was very solid stuff,” Westwood said. “The only blemish was on 14 where I thought I was really unlucky and I could quite easily be sat here with a 64.
“I did what I had to do on the greens. I wouldn't say it was a fantastic putting day, because if I had a fantastic putting day, I would have shot 62.”
Westwood’s playing partner McIlroy, at 20 trying to become the youngest Order of Merit winner since Seve Ballesteros in 1976, opened up with a solid round of 68 to lie in a tie for fifth.
The Northern Irishman sits alongside Liang Wen-chong, Padraig Harrington, Adam Scott, and Thomas Aiken after they all went round in a score of four under par.
“I think it was a very, very good first day for both myself and Lee,” McIlroy stated.
“We both got off to pretty slow starts to be honest, and then we played great golf on the back nine to pick things up.
“68 on day one, it's a great score to build on. If I can shoot a couple better over the weekend or the next three days, I should be in a good position.”
Asked about his duel with Westwood, he added: “I think we were both trying to concentrate on our own games.
“We still chatted a bit but I found it quite tough to play together today, just because you want to try and concentrate on the tournament.
“It will be nice not to play with him tomorrow, just to concentrate fully on my own score and on my own game.”
Nick Dougherty, Johan Edfors, Retief Goosen and Alvaro Quiros make up the remaining places in the top ten as their rounds of three under par enabled them to share tenth place.
Kaymer and Fisher, the other two contenders in with a chance of a €1.79 million tournament and bonus pool jackpot on Sunday, finished with scores of one under par and one over par respectively.
