(Reuters) – Scott Jamieson took a one-shot lead in the opening spherical of the HSBC Championship in Abu Dhabi after carding an error-free 63 to complete at nine-under on Thursday whereas world quantity two Collin Morikawa and four-time main winner Rory McIlroy struggled.
Jamieson sank 9 birdies and his rating of 63 set a course report at Yas Links, the positioning of the opening occasion of the 2022 European Tour which has been rebranded the DP World Tour from this yr.
The 38-year-old Scot was carefully adopted by Norway’s Viktor Hovland whereas Belgium’s Thomas Pieters was a shot additional behind in third place. Defending champion Tyrrell Hatton shared fourth place with 4 others — three pictures behind Jamieson.
“It was simply actually stable all day to be trustworthy. It’s eight weeks off from match golf out right here so that you’re all the time a bit of bit on edge at the beginning of the day,” Jamieson mentioned.
“(A) birdie on the first type of settled any edge there was… one tee shot wasn’t superb however I received fortunate and recovered properly.”
McIlroy, who remains to be searching for his maiden victory in Abu Dhabi after 4 runners-up finishes, accomplished the primary spherical on par with 4 birdies offset by 4 bogeys to sit down tied for 77th.
Morikawa, who gained final yr’s British Open and ended the season because the European Tour’s primary, managed solely two birdies whereas a double bogey on the eighth and a bogey on the seventeenth gave him a rating of 73, one over par.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)
by 
