IRELAND’S PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON is four shots off the lead after a strong recovery in the opening round of the inaugural Ras al Khaimah Championship.
Starting on the 10th hole, Harrington made a rough start with two bogeys on the 10th and 15th holes. But he started to rally with a birdie on the 17th and an eagle on the third. Back-to-back birdies on the 8th and 9th brought his round to an encouraging end as he carded a three-under 69 to stay in the mix heading into the second round.
Scotland’s Scott Jamieson made another fast start to share the lead after the opening round.
Jamieson carded seven birdies in a bogey-free 65 at Al Hamra Golf Club to join Germany’s Sebastian Heisele on top of the leaderboard, one shot ahead of fellow Scot David Law, Thomas Detry, Brandon Stone and Johannes Veerman.
England’s Matthew Southgate and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard were a shot further back, with world number 53 Richard Bland – the highest ranked player in the field – carding a one-under-par 71 on his 49th birthday.
Jamieson carded an opening 63 in the Abu Dhabi Championship a fortnight ago and led after each of the first three rounds, only to struggle to a closing 77 and slip into a tie for 10th.
Heisele won twice on the Challenge Tour in 2019 and was fourth in the Italian Open in 2020, but suffered health problems towards the end of last season and has fallen to 602nd in the world rankings.
“I’ve had a few months away from golf and I’ve just been trying to get healthy so I’m very pleased with today’s work,” Heisele said.
Law finished his round in style with an eagle on the par-five 18th, the 30-year-old from Aberdeen holing his third shot from 71 yards.
Elsewhere at the Asian Tour’s $5m PIF Saudi International, Ireland’s Shane Lowry is six off the lead after carding a two-under 68. Graeme McDowell finished his opening round on three-over 73 while Cormac Sharvin is among the group starting their rounds in the afternoon.
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