Cameron Young (USA) put in a commanding performance on a day where the good scoring almost exclusively came from the early starters. A cool morning in Dubai soon heated up when Young played his first 9 holes in five under par. Standing on his last tee of the day (hole 9) Young had his round at nine under par. A poor second shot kicked left and spun into the water, resulting in a bogey 5 and Young signing for a 64 to be clubhouse leader on -13.
Andy Sullivan (Eng) came screaming out the blocks early with the low front nine of the tournament of -5 (30). A mundane back nine with one birdie and one bogey saw Sullivan finish with a second successive 67 and sits tied in second place on -10 with Poland’s Adrian Meronk.
The tall Pole had a bogey free round of 66 with his only slight error was missing for birdie on the last from 4 feet.
Three shots further back lie the Hojgaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai who carded rounds of 70 and 69 respectively and lie alongside Scotland’s Richie Ramsay who had a very steady 68.
Birthday boy and fan favourite Tommy Fleetwood flattered to deceive in what could have been much better if it wasn’t for some uncharacteristic wayward drives. The Englishman carded 70 to occupy 15th place at -5.
McIlroy is all but out of contention after a round of 70 which leaves him 10 shots behind Young with two rounds to go.
It’s looking like the winner will come from Young, Sullivan or Meronk, however this course can be full of surprises, especially tomorrow when the DP World Tour will be putting some of the par 5 tees forward to allow more players potential eagle chances.
Photo credit: Alexi Van Damme, AX Media Thailand
Story: Colin White
