Thomas Pieters Leads After Omega Dubai Desert Classic First Round

Belgium’s Thomas Pieters is the solo leader of the second event of the European Tour’s desert swing, the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, after a first-round 67.

Thomas Pieters, who has four wins on the European Tour, sits a shot clear of the field at -5, thanks to recovering well from a mid-round wobble to lead the Dubai Desert Classic.

The Belgian started his round on the back nine, and with a birdie on the 18th, he sat at -5 through nine holes. However, he then double-bogeyed the 1st and bogeyed the 2nd to drop back into the pack, but three straight birdies from the 5th onwards saw him move back to the top of the pile.

He holds a one-shot lead from David Lipsky, who sits as the leading American in the field at Emirates GC. The World No.198 also started from the 10th, and bar a dropped shot on the 4th hole, his first-round card at the Dubai Desert Classic was blot-free.

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A shot further back from the American sit 12 men in a tie for 3rd, with 69 being one of the most popular scores at Emirates on the opening day of the tournament.

Sweden’s Robert Karlsson and Kurt Kitayama, the second American on the leaderboard, both went bogey-free in their opening rounds of three-under-par, while others in the group saw double bogeys on their cards on Thursday afternoon.

South Africa’s Shaun Norris even had a triple bogey on his card, but he still recovered to sit at T3, along with the likes of Eddie Pepperell and the experienced Dane, Søren Kjeldsen.

Reigning Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion Bryson DeChambeau sits at -2, just three off the lead, alongside South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen in a tie for 15th, while Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, and South African amateur Jayden Trey Schaper are all under par at -1.

Only 29 men sit in the red numbers following the opening day with a further 15 golfers shooting level-par around the Majlis course on day one.

British Open winner Shane Lowry, 2007 ODDC champion Henrik Stenson, and Germany’s Martin Kaymer are among those who carded 72, with Victor Perez and Pablo Larrazabal among those at +1 after the opening stanza.

Matthew Fitzpatrick is the last of the big names to sit inside the top 70, and what will be the projected cut line so far at +2, while Rasmus Højgaard and Tommy Fleetwood sit just outside that top 70 mark after the first 18 holes of the week.

Although down at +4 after his opening round, Rafa Cabrera Bello pulled out one of the shots of the day when his tee-shot ended up right next to a tree in the middle of the fairway.

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Joining the Spaniard in shooting a 76 on the opening day were fellow Rolex Series event winners Bernd Wiesberger and Danny Willett, along with New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.

It has been a rough start to the week for Lee Westwood, who has gone from the high of winning the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Sunday to carding a six-over-par 78 on Thursday in Dubai. The Englishman sits in a tie for 113th and will need an amazing fightback on Friday if he is to make the cut.

The second round starts at 07:10 (GMT+4) on Friday morning at Emirates GC, with a two-tee set-up in operation once more, Overnight leader Thomas Pieters will begin his day an hour later, teeing off from the first.

Will it be Pieters who holds the lead at the halfway stage of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic, or will the Belgian be usurped come close of play Friday?

Leaderboard:

1 (-5): Thomas Pieters (BEL)
2 (-4): David Lipsky (USA)
T3 (-3): Masahiro Kawamura (JPN), Shaun Norris (RSA), Kurt Kitayama (USA), Søren Kjeldsen (DEN), Lucas Herbert (AUS), Ashun Wu (CHN), Matthieu Pavon (FRA), Eddie Pepperell (ENG), Robert Karlsson (SWE), Dean Burmester (RSA), Kalle Samooja (FIN), Romain Langasque (FRA)

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Selected Others:

T15 (-2): Erik van Rooyen (RSA), Bryson DeChambeau (USA)
T19 (-1): Louis Oosthuizen (RSA), Sergio Garcia (ESP), Jayden Trey Schaper (A, RSA)
T30 (E): Shane Lowry (IRL), Henrik Stenson (SWE), Martin Kaymer (GER)
T45 (+1): Victor Perez (FRA), Pablo Larrazabal (ESP), Thomas Detry (BEL)
T61 (+2): Matthew Fitzpatrick (ENG), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (FRA)
T74 (+3): Rasmus Højgaard (DEN), Tommy Fleetwood (ENG)
T89 (+4): Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP), Bernd Wiesberger (AUT), Danny Willett (ENG), Ryan Fox (NZL)
T101 (+5): Matt Wallace (ENG), Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL)
T113 (+6): Lee Westwood (ENG), Haotong Li (CHN)

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