Robert MacIntyre immediately set about shooting for the European No. 1 crown with a superb share of second place on the opening day of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
The Oban lefty had been leading the £stg 6m event mid-round on route to four-under par 68 and just a shot behind Dundee-based Frenchman Victor Perez.
Perez, and winner of last year’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, posted a five-under par 67 to lead the 65-player, no-cut field competing on the Earth course at Jumeirah Estates.
All players were sporting black ribbons in memory of legendary broadcaster, Peter Alliss who passed away last Sunday aged 89.
MacIntyre shares second place with England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick and South African Matthew Van Rooyen.
Leading European No. 1 Patrick Reed delighted a jam-packed sponsors box at the back of the 18th with a birdie at the last in his round 62 to be sharing ninth place and one shy of England’s Tommy Fleetwood at lying second on the Race to Dubai money list.
MacIntyre burst from the gate with a hat-trick of birdies to be three-under after as many holes including holing an 18-footer at the first, an eight-footer at the par-5 second hole and then broke out in a huge smile in sinking a 40-footer for birdie at the third hole.
Birdie
Birdie
Birdie@robert1lefty can’t miss!#DPWTC #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/qm2Gm5fWzB— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) December 10, 2020
The World No. 59 made four single putts in four holes in sinking a 10-footer at the next, the par-4 fourth hole.
MacIntyre later singled out the best of his six birdies in emerging from pine straw after an errant second shot to walk off in holing a 45-footer at the par-5 seventh hole.
He said: “The 45-footer on the 7th was the pick of my birdies. I was out of position and was short-sided, but I had 254-yards to cover the greenside bunker.
“I hit it hard and lost it a bit left, but I missed the bunker in the right spot and pitched to about 45-feet and then managed to hole a really nice putt.”
He dropped a shot at the eighth but bounced straight back with a birdie on nine, and the No. 1 index hole on the Greg Norman-designed lay-out to be leading the field at four-under par.
MacIntyre gave a shot back on 10 but sent an 18-foot birdie to the bottom of the cut at the 11th before closing with seven straight pars.
He said: “It was difficult out there and I didn’t drive it great today, so I was always in a bit of trouble here and there, but we took our punishment.
“When I’m in position I’m attacking pins, and that’s what you’ve got to do. If you’re in position, you go at it. If not, you play the percentages and try to make par almost.
“Other than that, it’s a golf course that I like. It suits my eye, so just going to try and keep doing what I’m doing.”
The strong aspect of MacIntyre’s game was his putting as evident in one-putting his opening four holes that included putts coming from a different postcode.
He said: “I said it last year when I was here, I had a good feeling with the putter but then last week on the Fire course it wasn’t there, this week it’s there.
“The pace of the greens are up this week, so a lot of time you get downhill putts and it’s just about getting the ball on line.
“You don’t really have to worry about how I’m hitting it. Yeah, the putter feels great in the hands, and it’s just about trusting your line and committing to what you do, and that’s what we did today, and I managed to hole a few.
MacIntyre heads into the second round now projected to his second year on Tour up 12 spots to 10th but then he’s only one spot from the top that would hand him the No. 1 crown.
And, if so, he would be the first Scot since Colin Montgomerie in 2005 to lift the Race to Dubai trophy.
He said: “My golf is good. When I put in the graft and put in the practice, my golf is good.
“Earlier this year, I wasn’t practising as hard. I wasn’t enjoying it as much. But I’ve got the bug back. I’ve got the right people around me, and I’m just pushing on and see where we end up on Sunday.”
Next best of the five Scots is Marc Warren who began with 10 straight pars and with closing eight holes a mix of two birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey in a 72.
Drumoig’s Connor Syme’s debut DP World event was a mix of three birdies but also four bogeys in a 73 while Glaswegian Scott Jamieson was a shot further back after recording four birdies, two bogeys and a pair of doubles in his 74.
And Haddington’s Grant Forrest, who posted nine birdies in a Tour career best 63 last Sunday on the neighbouring course, struggled with only one birdie in a 75.
