Michael Hoey had clearly shaken off the effects of an ear infection as evident on the opening day of the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.

Michael Hoey chilling out ahead of this weeks DP World Tour Championship, Dubai. (Photo – www.golfbytourmiss.com)

Hoey picked up three birdies over five holes on day one of the $8m event being staged on the Earth Course at Jumeriah Estates.

The Irishman picked up the ear infection while swimming in a hotel pool in Chiangmai, Thailand.

Hoey and his wife travelled to the largest city in northern Thailand when he failed to qualify for the recent WGC – HSBC Champions event in China.

“It’s taken two weeks for me to recover but I’m feeling much better,” he said.

“The swimming pool at the hotel was just a bit dirty and I also believe I didn’t get the right medicine from the doctor as my balance was affected and it meant also having to take last week’s Hong Kong Open off.

“I first had trouble in flying down to Singapore what with the cabin pressure and I just started feeling a bit funny and had a lot of trouble sleeping.

“But there are worse things in life than having to pull out of a tournament.”

Joining Hoey, Rory McIlroy and newly-engaged Graeme McDowell in the field is Padraig Harrington and with wife Caroline lending approval for him to continue sporting his ‘Movember’ awareness moustache.

Harrington’s been sporting the moustache since contesting last fortnight’s Barclays Singapore Open and with many of the caddies suggesting he looks like Chopper Reid, the infamous underworld character that became the subject of the feature film, Chopper.

“Caroline is quite happy with it now but what pushed her over the edge is that someone who has prostate cancer pointed out that it’s doing good things,” said Harrington.

“Somebody suffering from the cancer gave her a few words of encouragement and she said ‘you know what, why would you stop doing something like that’.

“Obviously, it was a bit of fun at the time but she’s certainly behind the sentiment of it.”