Rory McIlroy leads the Dubai Desert Classic after carding a superb seven-under-par 65 in the first round.The Holywood player produced eight birdies and a bogey on Thursday which left him two ahead of Sergio Garcia.Dungannon’s Darren Clarke picked up shots on 2, 14 and 15 but bogeyed the fourth as he started with a 70.Michael Hoey matched Clarke’s 70 after dropping a late shot but Gareth Maybin had only two behind him in the field after a dismal 79.McIlroy started on the 10th and he was two under before firing five straight birdies from the 17th to the third.The only dropped shot came at the seventh but the 21-year-old hit back immediately with a birdie at the eighth.It was a pleasing opening round for McIlroy, who won the tournament two years ago to secure his first professional victory.“It was good – I really had a lot of iron shots and got away with a couple of drives that I was quite fortunate to make birdies from,” he said.”I had a putt for a 64 on the last that didn’t quite go in but I’ll take 65 in these conditions any day.Along with his win in Dubai, he won the Quail Hollow Championship in 2009.McIlroy said he was benefiting from the work he has done on his swing in the offseason and this week from the fact that much of the attention has been on the top three.”With the big three being paired together, I tried to go in a little under the radar and a bit more quietly,” he added.”It was nice to get a good round in there early.”
After starting at the 10th, Hoey birdied 13 and 18 and after a further gain at the first, the Belfast player parred his next six holes before dropping a shot at the eighth.Maybin didn’t record a birdie in a round which included four bogeys and a double bogey.Damien McGrane carded a 72, Paul McGinley a 73 with Peter Lawrie finishing on 74.Garcia showed a welcome return to form with his 67 which left him two behind leader McIlroy.World number one Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer both fired 69s while the third member of their three-ball Tiger Woods eagled the last to card a 71.Woods struggled for consistency after four birdies and an eagle were mixed with three bogeys and a double bogey – BBC
