Race to Dubai rivals Rory McIlroy and Danny Willett both fire 68 in season finale
Friday 20 November 2015 11:50, UK
Rory McIlroy maintained his slim advantage over Danny Willett in the Race to Dubai as both carded 68s on a low-scoring opening day of the DP World Tour Championship.
McIlroy holed a superb bunker escape for his fifth birdie of the round at the last, and Willett rolled in a four-foot putt to join the world No 3 on four under - two behind early leaders Ian Poulter, Martin Kaymer, Andy Sullivan and Marcus Fraser.
McIlroy led Willett by just 1,600 points heading into the European Tour's season-ending showpiece at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, and the last pair out matched each other shot for shot in the early stages.
The four-time major winner struck the first blow with a birdie at the second before Willett responded with his first at the fifth, and the Yorkshireman also answered McIlroy's birdie at the sixth with a well-crafted four at the next.
A pulled drive behind a tree cost McIlroy a shot at the 10th, but he responded with a magnificent iron to tap-in range at the 11th only for Willett to follow him in, and the reigning European No 1 added another at the next.
Willett made his only mistake of the day off the tee at the 13th before a sublime bunker shot at 14 retrieved the shot, and McIlroy did well to save par at the 17th before producing his grandstand finish when he holed out from the greenside trap at the last.
Poulter played one of his best rounds of a frustrating season as he compiled a flawless 66 to join early clubhouse leader Fraser on six under, while Kaymer picked up four shots in five holes on the back nine and another gain at the last earned him a share of the lead.
Sullivan, roared on by 30 members of his home club in Nuneaton, carded an eagle and five birdies in his 66, while Francesco Molinari kept a bogey off his card as be became the only player to open with a 67.
McIlroy and Willett are locked in an eight-way share of sixth that includes British Masters champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who boosted his claims for the Rookie of the Year award with a 68 featuring four birdies in five holes from the sixth.
Branden Grace got off to the hottest start of the 60-man field as he birdied five of the first six holes, but he could not build on his blistering opening salvo and slipped to four under along with Chris Wood, Fabrizio Zanotti, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Alejandro Canizares.
But Justin Rose's Race to Dubai ambitions took a knock after an erratic 71 which he began with four birdies and three bogeys in a rocky opening seven holes.
Rose, third in the standings and one of seven men in the hunt for the overall crown, got back on track with birdies at 11 and 15, but he bogeyed the final two holes to slip five strokes behind the leaders.
Fellow Race to Dubai contender Shane Lowry continued his poor run of form with a mixed-bag of a 75, while Henrik Stenson's bid for a third consecutive victory at the event looks unlikely after he bogeyed 15 and 17 either side of an ugly triple-bogey seven as he slumped to joint last on five over par.
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