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Ahmad Skaik had the honour of hitting the first shot of the championship on Thursday.
By Kent Gray
Denmark’s Joachim B. Hansen earned the overnight lead, Dubai’s Ahmad Skaik the lasting admiration of a proud nation.
A nine-under 63 has “JB” Hansen two strokes clear of Englishman Andy Sullivan and Paul Waring, South African Dean Burmester and defending champion Antoine Rozner of France. Ryder Cupper Tommy Fleetwood is a further shot back on six under par but the main AVIV Dubai Championship headline, at least in the UAE, belonged to Skaik whose 68 was the lowest round on the European Tour by an Emirati golfer.
The lefty’s four-under circuit of Fire at Jumeirah Golf Estates easily eclipsed the one-under-par 71 carded by Emirati trailblazer Ahmed Al Musharrekh at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Championship.
“It’s hard to put it into words how it feels,” said Skaik who is battling almost head-to-toe niggles but is clearly better for his strong showing at last week’s Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship at Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club.
“I really could trust my game out there today which feels amazing, I think I hit 16 greens, so I felt in control of the ball.
“To see my Dad’s smile at the end there means everything. My goal coming into this week was to make the cut and that remains the same, I’ve made a good start, but I need to now keep my head down and do more of the same tomorrow.”
Hansen took full advantage of the favourable scoring conditions on Fire to post five birdies in six holes before the turn before adding four more on the way in.
The 31-year-old is out to add a second European Tour victory to his breakthrough Joburg Open win last year. He’ll need to win, or finish no worse than second, to advance from his current position of 85th in the Race to Dubai standings into next week’s season-ending top-50 DP World Tour Championship.
Getty Images JB Hansen.
“I loved it, no wind, perfect conditions and lovely to play in,’ said Hansen who has been in a solid run of form with four consecutive top 25 finishes.,
“I kept the ball in play, hit a lot of fairways in the first 14 holes but I holed the putts I needed, missed a few ones but you can’t hole them all.
“The greens are quite soft and they stop pretty quick when it’s not down grain so you’ve got a lot of opportunities when you’re hitting from fairway.”
All of the main first-round performers were rolled into the virtual media centre including Rozner who talked of cashing in on the “good vibes” of last year when he won with a -25 total.
But none of the interviewees was as illuminating as Waring who got to the crux of modern-day matters after explaining how he had his “ball under a lot of control.”
“… I’ll be honest with you, I struggled a lot mentally over the Covid period,” Waring offered.
“I think that’s been one of the major factors for me. With everything opening up a little more and having more freedom in our daily lives, I’ve definitely felt better for it. I started playing better around Wentworth [at the BMW PGA Championship in September] and I feel like I’ve been knocking on the door. Not fantastic results, but getting better.”
