With all the talk of Patrick Reed as a possible first American to win the Race To Dubai, no one was considering Frenchman Victor Perez.
Perez got off to a great start Thursday with a five-under par 67 on the difficult Earth course at Jumeirah Golf Estates. He’s stands alone at the top of the DP World Tour Championship.
“As always on these tough courses, tough pins today, they really put up a good setup with some of the pins,” said Perez, who has twice finished as a runner-up in the big Rolex Series events this season. “It was just about holing a few good putts, driving the ball well, doing everything fairly well but obviously making a few putts, which you need those type of days.”
Indeed, the Earth course provides a much greater challenge than its younger brother — the Fire course where last week’s Golf In Dubai Championship was contested.
“In the position I’m in, I have nothing to lose. I have everything to gain,” said Perez, who came into this season finale for the European Tour in sixth position in the Race To Dubai points list. “For me,” Perez continued, “it’s really a going-for-it mentality that I have to keep for four rounds. Obviously you still have to play proper golf and hit the right shots and sometimes take your medicine, but again, I have really nothing to lose, and it’s a matter of making a lot of birdies.”
The small, 65-player field was greeted on day one by perfect greens, tough rough and no wind whatsoever. Perez got to the top with four back nine birdies and just a single bogey on his card for his opening 18.
Perez had a one-shot lead over a trio of players that included youngsters Robert MacIntyre of Scotland and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick. South African Erik van Rooyen jointed them at three-under.
Tommy Fleetwood came into the event in second place in the points standings behind American Patrick Reed. Fleetwood played with Reed and bested him by a shot, shooting 69 and found himself in a star-studded group along with two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, world’s No. 10 Tyrrell Hatton and Sami Valmaki. Only eight players managed to break 70 on a course that proved more than challenging if you couldn’t find fairways. “It’s hard to play this course from the rough,” Hatton conceded.
Reed went around on day one without a blemish on his card. He made 16 pars and two birdies, including one at the par five 18th to finish his day’s work.
Friday Update: Patrick Reed began to get really comfortable with his game and that is bad news for the rest of the field. He went out Friday and shot the week’s best round — an eight-under par 64 that vaulted him into the 36-hole lead at 10-under par.
Dubai World Tour Championship Scoreboard:
