CANIZARES SETS PACE WITH SIX-UNDER 66 IN DUBAI
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Alejandro
Cañizares came flying out of the blocks in the first round of the DP
World Tour Championship, Dubai, where Henrik Stenson made a fine start
to his bid for Race to Dubai glory.
Spaniard
Cañizares opened with a six under par 66 to lead by one from Thailand’s
Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Australian Marcus Fraser, with Stenson, the
man leading The Race to Dubai at the season’s final event, two shots
back in a group of
players at four under.
Stenson’s
hopes to land the title of European Number One were boosted by the fact
his three main rivals – Justin Rose (70), Graeme McDowell (72) and Ian
Poulter (69), currently second, third and fourth in The Race to Dubai
respectively
– are behind him on the leaderboard, although he was mindful that there
is still a long way to go.
“You
can't win tournaments on a Thursday but you can certainly play your way
out of them,” said the 37 year old, who teed off moments after a fly-by
from the Red Arrows.
“I'm happy the way I'm playing and I would have
taken four under.
“I'm
playing nicely. I hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens and gave
myself plenty of chances. I definitely hit a lot of good putts out
there, but the greens are tricky to read and I should have been a good
couple better than what
I was. At the last I let the concentration slip and three-putted from
12 feet down the hill. That was the only bad one today.”
Cañizares
took inspiration from playing alongside Stenson and World Number One
Tiger Woods in the final round in Turkey last week to open with seven
birdies and a bogey in Dubai.
“I
wasn't feeling great in the warm‑up, but I just looked forward and it
turned out to be a great day,” he said. “I started pretty well with a
couple of birdies. I kept it very steady and didn't do anything special.
I made a couple of long
putts for birdie, but overall it was a very quiet round and it felt
like it was easy.
“The
experience of playing with Tiger last week was great. It was the first
I’ve played with him, and I grew up watching him on TV, so I was a
little nervous. In the end, I think it was a good experience for me to
realise that I can be
amongst the top players.”
Defending champion Rory McIlroy made a promising start but bogeyed the last for a one under par 71.
FIRST ROUND SCOREBOARD
Par 72
66 A Cañizares (Esp) ,
67 M Fraser (Aus), K Aphibarnrat (Tha),
68 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp), J Donaldson (Wal), H Stenson (Swe),
69 I Poulter (Eng), T Jaidee (Tha), T Olesen (Den),
70 P Hanson (Swe), L Westwood (Eng), F Molinari (Ita), M Kaymer (Ger), V Dubuisson (Fra), R Sterne (RSA), J Rose (Eng),
71 D Lynn (Eng), D Fichardt (RSA), S Lowry (Irl), E De La Riva (Esp), B Rumford (Aus), R McIlroy (Nir), M Manassero (Ita), T Björn (Den), G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp), N Colsaerts (Bel),
72 P Larrazábal (Esp), D Horsey (Eng) , J Blixt (Swe) , S Khan (Eng), B Wiesberger (Aut), T Fleetwood (Eng) , M Jiménez (Esp) , P Uihlein (USA) , G McDowell (Nir) , M Ilonen (Fin) ,
73 C Lee (Sco), L Donald (Eng), C Wood (Eng), J Luiten (Ned), L Oosthuizen (RSA), S Jamieson (Sco),
74 M Warren (Sco), G Coetzee (RSA), J Quesne (Fra),
75 M Siem (Ger), R Fisher (Eng), P Casey (Eng), D Howell (Eng),
76 T Aiken (RSA), G Mulroy (RSA), B Grace (RSA), G Bourdy (Fra),
77 R Jacquelin (Fra), S Gallacher (Sco),
79 F Aguilar (Chi)
EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS67 M Fraser (Aus), K Aphibarnrat (Tha),
68 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp), J Donaldson (Wal), H Stenson (Swe),
69 I Poulter (Eng), T Jaidee (Tha), T Olesen (Den),
70 P Hanson (Swe), L Westwood (Eng), F Molinari (Ita), M Kaymer (Ger), V Dubuisson (Fra), R Sterne (RSA), J Rose (Eng),
71 D Lynn (Eng), D Fichardt (RSA), S Lowry (Irl), E De La Riva (Esp), B Rumford (Aus), R McIlroy (Nir), M Manassero (Ita), T Björn (Den), G Fernandez-Castaño (Esp), N Colsaerts (Bel),
72 P Larrazábal (Esp), D Horsey (Eng) , J Blixt (Swe) , S Khan (Eng), B Wiesberger (Aut), T Fleetwood (Eng) , M Jiménez (Esp) , P Uihlein (USA) , G McDowell (Nir) , M Ilonen (Fin) ,
73 C Lee (Sco), L Donald (Eng), C Wood (Eng), J Luiten (Ned), L Oosthuizen (RSA), S Jamieson (Sco),
74 M Warren (Sco), G Coetzee (RSA), J Quesne (Fra),
75 M Siem (Ger), R Fisher (Eng), P Casey (Eng), D Howell (Eng),
76 T Aiken (RSA), G Mulroy (RSA), B Grace (RSA), G Bourdy (Fra),
77 R Jacquelin (Fra), S Gallacher (Sco),
79 F Aguilar (Chi)
Labels: EUROPEAN TOUR
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