Patrick Reed fired a bogey-free 65 to take a one-shot lead on the first day of the DP World Tour Championship, as Justin Rose snatched the initiative in the Race to Dubai.
Europe’s No 1 will be crowned at the end of the eighth Rolex Series event, and Rose entered the week trailing Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex leader Tommy Fleetwood by just 256,737 points.
A six-under-par 66 left Rose a shot behind Reed at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and with Fleetwood firing a one-over-par 73, Rose was the man leading the projected Rankings heading into day two.
Australian Scott Hend was alongside Rose at six-under, a shot clear of defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick, Swede Alexander Björk, Ireland’s Paul Dunne, New Zealander Ryan Fox, Frenchman Alexander Levy and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti.
Rose knows a third consecutive win will see him become Europe’s best for the second time, ten years after he first won the Order of Merit, but if he finishes lower than solo fifth, Fleetwood is guaranteed the Harry Vardon Trophy.
‘There are two things to think about this week: winning the golf tournament and winning the Race to Dubai,’ he said. ‘I know that if I do one of those, the first one, then the second one happens.
‘I’ve just got to try and put together a really good final three rounds and do what I always do.
‘Really happy with that as a start. I wanted to come out today with good intent and get myself moving forward quickly. Been fortunate enough to have won the last two events, but been doing so from quite a long way behind and you can’t always rely on that.
‘I was definitely keen today to come out and try and get going as quick as I could this week and see where it goes from here.’
Away from the season-long race for supremacy, American Reed is seeking his second European Tour title and was a picture of consistency in leading the way.
Reed birdied the first and second, but then reeled off seven straight pars before coming back to life on the back nine. The American made gains on the tenth, 12th and 15th, hit a smart tee-shot into the par-three 17th, and when he layed up on the last to hit an approach to ten feet, he had the lead.
‘All I can hope for is just keep on playing some solid golf and put myself in position,’ he said.
‘I felt like ball-striking was where it needed to be. I feel like I had pretty much most control over the golf ball today. Seemed like the tee-shots I didn’t seem to hit particularly well, I missed them in the correct spots.’
Rose took advantage of the par-five second and seventh, but bogeyed the ninth to turn in 35. Back-to-back birdies on the tenth and 11th saw him recover, but he was still well back in the pack before a moment of magic.
The 2013 US Open champion holed a bunker shot on the 14th for an eagle and then birdied the last, following being forced to lay up after he missed the fairway.
Hend birdied the first and fourth, but then rattled off a hat-trick of gains from the tenth. Further birdies on the 14th and 15th had him three ahead, but he drove into the water on the last to surrender a closing bogey.
Englishman Fitzpatrick had a birdie-birdie finish in his blemish-free effort, while Dunne and Zanotti were also bogey-free with five birdies in their opening rounds.
An eagle on the last catapulted Fox into a share of fourth, with Björk and Levy both making two bogeys on Thursday.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, English pair David Horsey and Andy Sullivan, German Martin Kaymer, Dane Søren Kjeldsen and American Julian Suri were at four-under.
An opening double-bogey set the tone for Fleetwood, and while he made a brilliant eagle on the seventh to go with three birdies, he also recorded four bogeys.
‘If you look in terms of the tournament, I’ve got to shoot something really low tomorrow and Saturday,’ he said. ‘Then it will depend on how he plays.
‘But there are three rounds of golf, 54 holes are a lot of holes and anything can happen. It’s been similar to the last few weeks where I’ve not had great first rounds, but climbed the leaderboard steadily. Just go out tomorrow and do my best.’
“I wasn’t far off after a really bad start. I wasn’t really far off, actually shooting a decent score today.”
Sergio Garcia can also win the Race to Dubai with a victory this week if other things also go his way, and he signed for an opening 70.
