Marcus Armitage posted his lowest round for over two years as he raced into a four-stroke lead after the opening round of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.

The Englishman, playing in the first group of the day from the tenth, made the most of calm morning conditions as he mixed 11 birdies with two bogeys to card a nine under par 63, four better than countryman Jack Senior, Sweden’s Alexander Bjork and Spaniard Ivan Cantero, who share second on five under at Al Hamra Golf Club.

The 2021 Porsche European Open winner began his round from the tenth tee and got off to a dream start, holing from 40 feet for an opening birdie at a tricky hole.

After giving the shot back at the 12th, Armitage took advantage of the par five 14th to get back under par before closing his front nine with a hat-trick of birdies courtesy of a hot putter. His birdie run continued after the turn as he made further gains on the first and second to make it five on the bounce.

The streak was broken by a bogey on the par five third but Armitage bounced back with a birdie from 16 feet on the short fourth. He continued to shine on the greens, pouring in another birdie from 18 feet at the sixth before closing his round with back-to-back birdies to get to nine under, which proved a target too tall for the rest of the field.

Fellow Englishman Senior was the best of the afternoon starters, birdieing the ninth – his last hole – to cap off a fine bogey-free round of 67 in his first competitive round of 2025.

Irishman Pádraig Harrington, who has worked with Al Hamra Golf Club to make changes to the Ras Al Khaimah Championship layout, is part of a four-strong pack on four under par alongside Spaniard Alejandro del Rey, South Africa’s Louis de Jager and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.

With a record-breaking, five UAE National players in the field this week, amateur Ahmad Skaik and professional Joshua Grenville-Wood are the best placed at level par after Thursday at Al Hamra Golf Club.

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