11 November 2021: Denmark’s Joachim Hansen fired a nine under par 63 to lead by two shots after the opening round of the AVIV Dubai Championship. Shubhankar Sharma shot four birdies in his opening 70, that left him some work to do on a leaderboard replete with low scores.
Shubhankar is lying T61 at 2-under with thirteen other golfers including Justin Harding and Jazz Janewattananond.
Hansen took full advantage of the favourable scoring conditions on the Fire Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, posting five birdies in six holes before the turn before adding four more on the way in.
“I had some good practice days with my coach here the last few days, my game yesterday looked solid, good warm up on the range today and had confidence going out there and it showed itself out there,” said Hansen.
“I loved it, no wind, perfect conditions and lovely to play in. I kept the ball in play, hit a lot of fairways in the first 14 holes but I holed the putts I needed, missed a few ones but you can’t hole them all.
“The greens are quite soft and they stop pretty quick when it’s not down grain so you’ve got a lot of opportunities when you’re hitting from fairway.
The 31 year old, whose sole European Tour win came at the 2020 Joburg Open, has been in a solid run of form with four consecutive top 25 finishes, but at 85th on the Race to Dubai he needs either a victory or second place if he is to force his way into next week’s season-ending Rolex Series event, the DP World Tour Championship.
Hansen finished with back-to-back birdies to move two clear of four players tied on seven under par: English pair Andy Sullivan and Paul Waring, South African Dean Burmester and defending champion Antoine Rozner of France.
“I know I’ve played well here in the past so that gives me a bit of confidence, but at the end you just start over. I’ve played well these last few weeks, my ball striking has been good and on this course that’s key,” explained Rozner.
“I’m in good form and maybe being back here brings the good vibes in me and I’m just aggressive out here so it’s been good.”
Ryder Cup player Tommy Fleetwood is a further shot back on six under par after a round of 66 that included eight birdies and two bogeys.
“I drove it well. I did a lot of very good things. There were a couple of sloppy things out there that you would like to, on a really good day when you feel like you can get it going, you would rather not do. “But overall off the tee I felt pretty confident, in a good space. I felt a lot of good tee shots and gave myself a good chance of scoring. It’s a scorable morning and you can see by the scores, but you’ve still got to go out there and do it. You’ve got to hit the shots and hole some putts so I’m happy with the start,” said Fleetwood.
Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates amateur Ahmad Skaik, who hit the opening tee shot, posted the lowest round on the European Tour by an Emirati golfer, signing for a four under par 68.
“It’s hard to put it into words how it feels. I really could trust my game out there today which feels amazing, I think I hit 16 greens, so I felt in control of the ball,” said Skaik.
“To see my Dad’s smile at the end there means everything. My goal coming into this week was to make the cut and that remains the same, I’ve made a good start, but I need to now keep my head down and do more of the same tomorrow.”
Round One scores
63 J HANSEN (DEN),
65 P WARING (ENG), D BURMESTER (RSA), A ROZNER (FRA), A SULLIVAN (ENG),
66 F LAPORTA (ITA), Z LOMBARD (RSA), C SHINKWIN (ENG), T FLEETWOOD (ENG), D FICHARDT (RSA),
67 M LORENZO-VERA (FRA), S HORSFIELD (ENG), S CROCKER (USA), B WIESBERGER (AUT), A QUIROS (ESP), T OLESEN (DEN), D COUPLAND (ENG), J GUERRIER (FRA), T DETRY (BEL), B HEBERT (FRA), J SCRIVENER (AUS), K SAMOOJA (FIN), M LEE (AUS), N LEMKE (SWE), K BROBERG (SWE),
68 J MORRISON (ENG), M KORHONEN (FIN), M ARMITAGE (ENG), R MACINTYRE (SCO), G MIGLIOZZI (ITA), R MCGOWAN (ENG), S HEND (AUS), A CHESTERS (ENG), A SKAIK (AM) (UAE), P HARRINGTON (IRL), P CASEY (ENG), M KIEFFER (GER),
69 N ELVIRA (ESP), D VAN TONDER (RSA), M KAWAMURA (JPN), A BJ?RK (SWE), M KAYMER (GER), A CA?IZARES (ESP), D GAVINS (ENG), T LEWIS (ENG), A LEVY (FRA), S JAMIESON (SCO), O FARR (WAL), F ZANOTTI (PAR), J SMITH (ENG), S SODERBERG (SWE), E MOLINARI (ITA), R LANGASQUE (FRA), H PORTEOUS (RSA), M PAVON (FRA), J CATLIN (USA), M JORDAN (ENG), G FORREST (SCO), R SANTOS (POR), R ROUSSEL (FRA),
70 S SHARMA (IND), J HARDING (RSA), R CABRERA BELLO (ESP), D LAW (SCO), T PULKKANEN (FIN), J LAGERGREN (SWE), V PEREZ (FRA), S GALLACHER (SCO), R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA), L BJERREGAARD (DEN), J SENIOR (ENG), N COLSAERTS (BEL), J JANEWATTANANOND (THA), S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP),
71 J CALDWELL (NIR), C WOOD (ENG), N BERTASIO (ITA), R RAMSAY (SCO), J CAMPILLO (ESP), D HORSEY (ENG), J LUITEN (NED), O WILSON (ENG), S V?LIM?KI (FIN), J STALTER (FRA), D DRYSDALE (SCO),
72 A MERONK (POL), S BROWN (ENG), J WINTHER (DEN), T BJ?RN (DEN), M WALLACE (ENG), O FISHER (ENG), M KINHULT (SWE), D HOWELL (ENG), P FIGUEIREDO (POR), G GREEN (MAS), D WHITNELL (ENG), J WALTERS (RSA), C PIGEM (ESP),
73 M WARREN (SCO), E PEPPERELL (ENG), J SURI (USA), G PORTEOUS (ENG), R FISHER (ENG),
74 J VEERMAN (USA), R KARLBERG (SWE),
75 B POKE (DEN), C SYME (SCO), A OTAEGUI (ESP), L VAN MEIJEL (NED),
76 R MCEVOY (ENG), C SORDET (FRA), A COCKERILL (CAN),
77 C PAISLEY (ENG),
79 R PARATORE (ITA)
