Francesco Molinari insists he is not changing his game-plan after he moved a step closer to becoming the first Italian to be crowned European Number One at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
The Italian knows that a tie for fifth with one other or better at the the eighth Rolex Series event of the season will see him win the Race to Dubai, and he was in a five-way tie for fifth after day one at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
The only man who can deny him the crown is defending champion Tommy Fleetwood, but the Englishman needs a victory and he was a shot behind Molinari after an opening 69.
The difference was four shots after 14 holes but Molinari three-putted the 15th and 18th, while playing partner Fleetwood holed a birdie putt from off the green on the last as he stayed bogey-free.
Despite that late blip, Molinari was happy with his position and knows that his destiny is very much in his own hands.
I need to do what I've done all year so well and we'll see on Sunday if that's going to be enough or not - Francesco Molinari
“It's a shame because I putted really well up until the 14th and then just misjudged the pace on a couple of those putts and left myself more work to do than I needed to,” he said.
“But my game was okay, probably not my best, but putting and short game was very good up until the 14th and that's how I built the six under score.
“I think both of us, we didn't really hit the ball maybe our best, but we managed to scramble well and get two solid rounds together.
“I did a good job today to just think about shot by shot and hitting fairways, hitting greens, try to get the ball up-and-down when I miss greens and that's what I need to do. I don't think there's any benefit in starting to think about what could happen if, it's just too early.
"It's still golf at the end of the day and I need to do what I've done all year so well and we'll see on Sunday if that's going to be enough or not.”
Fleetwood took advantage of three of the par fives along with 15 pars and admitted that he was pleased to be in the mix after grinding it out at times.
“There was plenty of good and I played really solid early on,” he said. "I felt very comfortable and then the back nine it turned into a bit of a grind. We got a bit of wind for the last two or three holes which made it a little bit trickier.
“Overall, I don't think - especially with the way I played the back nine - I couldn't have asked for more than three under, really.
“As long as the year is, you come into this week still with a chance of Race to Dubai. One round down and we still have a chance. As long as our head's above water for that, we'll be happy and keep going.
“Just focusing purely on this tournament today, three under was a good score. You can play great and not shoot three under so, having struggled on the back nine and done it, that's really, really good.”
