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Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Wilco Nienaber and Joshua Berry all carded seven under par rounds of 65 to share a two-shot lead after day one of the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
Neergaard-Petersen entered the tournament atop the Road to Mallorca Rankings and soon showed why, firing three birdies in his opening four holes. A pair of bogeys and six birdies later, he closed out day one in Abu Dhabi with a share of the clubhouse lead.
“It was nice to see a couple of those putts drop early”, he said. “It’s always nice to get off to a good start, so that was lovely.
“Some of the hole locations mean a nice shot from the fairway even with a short club is still a 15 or 20-footer. If you’re going to make birdies, you have to go ahead and make putts.”
Co-leader Nienaber kicked off his round with seven pars before making an eagle and five birdies in his last 11 holes to take a share of the lead. While Englishman Berry carded five birdies and two eagles on his way to seven under par.
The leaders head into the second round two shots clear of Dutchmen Wil Besseling and Vince Van Veen, Scotland’s Euan Walker and Swiss player Benjamin Rusch in a tie for fourth.
15 players lie a further shot back including 17-year-old English amateur Oscar Craig, who was joined for his bogey-free 69 by stepfather Tommy Fleetwood, who is caddying for him this week.
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“The start of the first nine I just played really solid,” said Craig. “I didn’t miss many shots, I just stayed confident on every single shot.
“Got to the back nine, my long game was strong and I felt confident with it, I just didn’t hole many putts.
“The last few holes I struggled a little bit, but then I holed some good putts so it levelled out a bit. Overall I’m really happy.”
Joining Oscar on that number was the UAE’s Joshua Grenville-Wood who also enjoyed a solid opening day at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
The second round gets underway at 6:30am tomorrow, with Neergaard-Petersen teeing off at 12:30, Nienaber off at 12:50 and Berry off at 12:00.
Image: Getty Images / Octavio Passos
