Johannes Veerman revealed he was bringing extra confidence into the new DP World Tour season after claiming his first win in 2021.
The American lifted the trophy at the D+D REAL Czech Masters in August and recorded two more top tens before starting the 2022 campaign with a tie for 12th at the Joburg Open.
Despite only arriving in the UAE the day before the event, he recorded a tie for 35th at last week's Slync.io Dubai Desert Classic and has brought that form 70 miles east to the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital.
An opening bogey-free 66 moved the 29-year-old to six under at Al Hamra Golf Club, and he revealed he was feeling positive about 2022.
“I played pretty well last week, after one day of prep after arriving early Wednesday morning," he said. "It was really good, tied 35th after being super-jetlagged so a lot of positives to take away from that.
I know it’s in my back pocket like I’ve done it before, a little feather in your cap – I know it’s in there and it’s not something I haven’t done before
"I’ve only played five rounds this year but so far I’m pretty happy!
“I don’t think about the win too much, I know it’s in my back pocket like I’ve done it before, a little feather in your cap – I know it’s in there and it’s not something I haven’t done before.
"So I guess with that added reassurance that I’ve done it before, it’s making me look forward to the season more.”
He added: “I played really solid today. When you go bogey-free you always feel like you’ve squeezed everything you could out of your round and that’s how I feel.
“I had a lot of chances and I missed some but bogeys kill your momentum, especially out here, so if you can just play steady and not drop shots, you can go low."
South African Brandon Stone was also at six under after a bogey-free 66 of his own and he had no doubt about the key to his round.
"Today was without a doubt the best putting round I’ve had all year so far, I putted beautifully, I holed a lot of 15-20 footers, a lot of four-five footers here and there too which is great," he said.
"I just played solid, was never in trouble, never stressing, hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of opportunities today and I was the lucky one to be able to convert a few of them."
Wind arrived to make the scoring trickier in the afternoon but Belgian Thomas Detry and Scot David Law were able to make it a four-way tie in third.
Detry made a three-birdie start and was in a share of the lead when he made a seventh of the day on the 14th but the gave it straight back on the next in his 66.
“I got off to a good start," he said. "The wind picked up a little bit in the middle of the round. It was tricky out there but I managed to play the tough holes really well - birdie on ten and birdie on 12 were key. I’m very pleased with the way I played today.
“I’m very excited about tomorrow, the morning should be nice and soft and good smooth greens as well, so hopefully I’ll be able to roll a couple of putts in and maybe I will be able to move into the lead.”
How things stand after 18 holes 📈#RakGolfChamps
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Law was three shots back after five birdies and a bogey in his opening 17 holes but he played a lay-up on the par-five last and holed his third from 71 yards for an eagle.
“It was a good day," he said. "It was windy, and I think it was playing a lot trickier than we thought it was going to play in practice. The pins were tough as well, so it was difficult to get it close.
"I think it might have been a bit different in the morning without the wind but if I’d finished four under I’d have been really happy with that, so to finish off like that was a nice way to finish."
