Spaniard Rafa Cabrera-Bello, a previous winner on The European Tour’s ‘Desert Swing’, fired an opening round five under par 67 for a three-way share of the lead in the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, alongside Englishman Matthew Baldwin and Frenchman Romain Wattel.
Cabrera-Bello won the Omega Dubai Desert Classic in 2012, and he got off to an ideal start in his bid to lift another trophy in the Middle East, beginning 2014 with six birdies and just a single bogey on the opening hole.
“I have not competed for the last five weeks, and even though I have been practising and trying to recreate competition, it’s not quite the same, so I’m pretty pleased with this start,” said the 29 year old from Gran Canaria.
“I’ve always said that I feel very comfortable here. It reminds me a bit of home with the palm trees and the sand and the good weather, so I enjoy playing in short sleeves and in the sunshine.”
Both Baldwin and Wattel are searching for their maiden wins on The European Tour, each having finish as a runner up before, Wattel in the 2012 Omega European Masters in Switzerland and Baldwin in the Nelson Mandela Championship presented by ISPS Handa last month.
Baldwin mixed seven birdies with two bogeys in his round and he admitted that his morale was high following his career-best performance in South Africa.
“It’s given me confidence to go on and keep challenging and maybe a win is around the corner, you never know. I want to win. There are plenty of guys that obviously want to win as well, but I think looking at the year ahead, top 60 (on The Race to Dubai) is a target but definitely to get a win under the belt would be superb.”
Wattel did not drop a shot in his opening round, carding five birdies, and after spending the past week in Dubai practising, he feels his game is in good shape ahead of a big year.
“I just tried to play solid today,” he said. “Abu Dhabi is a good test all the time, so I’m really pleased with five‑under par and it’s obviously really nice to start the tournament.”
Scotland’s Craig Lee finished his round by posting four birdies in a row before holing a 35ft par putt on the last to lie one shot back on four under par in a seven-way share of fourth place.
He is joined by 2014 European Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley, who threatened to upstage many of the hopefuls hoping to secure a place in his team for Gleneagles. The Irishman reached five under par himself after five birdies in his opening 11 holes, but dropped a shot on 16th – when he chipped in for bogey after finding the water – for a round of 68.
Dutchman Joost Luiten, who finished tied third in last week’s Volvo Golf Champions, is also on four under par, along with the South African pair of George Coetzee and Dawie Van der Walt, Scotland’s Marc Warren, and Portugal’s José Filipe Lima.
There was a positive start to the new year for former World Number One Rory McIlroy who started 2014 with a bogey-free two under par round of 70, the same score as Englishman Luke Donald and three-time winner Martin Kaymer, while reigning Open Champion Phil Mickelson opened with a one over par 73 – carding 17 straight pars before dropping a shot at the ninth, his final hole of the day.
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