By Matt Smith
DUBAI Feb 9 (Reuters) – Rafael Cabrera-Bello was the
early pace-setter in the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic
golf on Thursday, ending on nine under par after sinking seven
birdies in his opening nine holes.
Tournament favourite Rory McIlroy was on par after three
holes, while world number two Lee Westwood finished on three
under.
Cabrera-Bello, 27, belied his lowly world ranking of 119 and
looked poised to challenge Ernie Els’s record 11 under at the
Majlis course after surging to nine under with 11 holes played,
but the Spaniard found the final seven tougher going, holing all
of them for par.
Cabrera-Bello was joined on the leaderboard by German Marcel
Siem and Scotland’s Scott Jamieson, who both shot seven under.
Siem blotted his copybook with a bogey on the par-five 18th,
while Jamieson bagged two birdies and an eagle on his final six
holes.
Thomas Bjorn, a Classic winner in 2011, was tied for fourth
on six under.
“I played well today, anytime you shoot 66 on any golf
course you have to be happy,” the Dane told Reuters.
“Conditions were very good today and these greens are as
good as they come, people are going to hole putts and that
always gives good scoring. It doesn’t matter how hard you set up
a golf course, when you offer guys these conditions, there is
always someone who is going to shoot numbers.”
World number two McIlroy teed off in the afternoon with last
month’s Abu Dhabi Championship winner Robert Rock and defending
Dubai champion Alvaro Quioros, who were one and two over
respectively.
(Editing by Clare Fallon)
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