Tom Lewis takes early lead in Abu Dhabi Challenge

Two-time winner on the DP World Tour ahead by one stroke at Abu Dhabi Golf Club

Tom Lewis of England during day one of the Abu Dhabi Challenge at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. Getty

Tom Lewis, the two-time winner on the DP World Tour, leads the Challenge Tour’s Abu Dhabi Challenge after Day 1 of the inaugural event on Thursday.

Lewis, who triumphed on Europe’s top circuit in 2011 and 2018, fired an eight-under-par 64 at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, reeling off nine birdies and posting a solitary bogey to lead by one.

Fellow Englishman Joshua Grenville-Wood and France’s Julien Sale sit in joint second, with Ivan Cantero Gutierrez of Spain in solo fourth on 6-under.

A five-strong group, headed by DP World Tour winner Brandon Stone, shot opening 67s.

“It’s obviously a great start,” Lewis said. “I haven’t shot a score like that around this course. Conditions were perfect. There wasn’t too much breeze and it’s so warm here that the ball is going an extra club length. It was great to be out there.”

Meanwhile, Ahmad Skaik was the best of a seven-strong Emirati contingent competing in the event, with the UAE's top-ranked golfer registering a one under 71. Skaik birdied the second and fifth, but dropped his only shot of the day at the par-3 seventh.

“I hit the ball okay, my irons were curving a lot to the right, so I didn’t feel comfortable with that,” said Skaik, who hopes to turn professional later this year. "But my putting was really good - I felt very confident in that and made some really good up and downs.

"I hit some poor tee shots and had to scramble a lot. Two birdies and one bogey to finish up, although my birdie on the fifth was so nearly an eagle.”

UAE resident Louis Gaughan, golf coach at Dubai Hills Golf Club who secured an invite after winning last week’s Emirates PGA Championship, shot a level-par 72.

Marking the Challenge Tour’s return to the UAE for the first time in five years, the Abu Dhabi Challenge is the first of back-to-back events taking place in the UAE as part of the European Tour group’s long-term partnership with the Emirates Golf Federation.