DP World Tour Championship: Paul Waring adjusts to life in spotlight after Abu Dhabi title

Englishman cards opening round 68 in Dubai which leaves him one shot behind joint leaders Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton

Rory McIlroy has a share of the lead at the end of Day 1 of the DP World Tour Championship on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai. Getty Images

Tyrrell Hatton tees-off on the first hole on his way to an opening round 67. He shares the lead with Rory McIlroy at five-under par. Getty Images

Paul Waring, who won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship last weekend, carded an opening round 68 in Dubai, leaving him one shot off the lead. Getty Images

Keita Nakajima carded a first-round 69, leaving the Japanese player two shots off the lead. Getty Images

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his second shot on the 14th hole. Getty Images

Tyrrell Hatton looks across the 16th green during his opening round five-under par 67. Getty Images

Tommy Fleetwood prepares to play a shot from a bunker on the third hole. The Englishman carded a first-round 71. Getty Images

Rory McIlroy tees-off on the first hole on on his way to an opening round 67. Getty Images

Niklas Norgaard on the 18th hole alongside his caddie on his way to an opening round 69. Getty Images

Billy Horschel plays his second shot on the 12th hole. The American carded a first-round 69. Getty Images

With three-eighths of its inaugural edition still to run, the jury still has plenty of time to reach a verdict on the DP World Tour play-offs.

Unless, perhaps, Paul Waring has the casting vote, in which case it will already be deemed the most resounding success imaginable.

Nobody has benefitted more from the new, two-legged finale to the tour season than the 39-year-old Dubai resident.

This time last week, it might still have been possible to regard him as a journeyman pro, even if he had just signed for an eight-under par 64 to start the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship at Yas Links.

In the time since, the Englishman has seen his bank balance swell, his trophy collection double, his ranking soar, and his ambitions transform out of sight.

Now it almost feels de rigueur for the new Abu Dhabi champ to be vying among the stars of the game at the top of a Rolex Series leaderboard.

After the first round of the DP World Tour Championship, he is placed third among the 50 players who made the cut for this restricted field tournament.

His opening day four-under-par 68 around Earth Course is just one shot behind the joint leaders, Rory McIlroy and Tyrrell Hatton. And he is ahead of the likes of Adam Scott, Billy Horschel and Shane Lowry, as well as a variety of other stars.

“Coming off last week, being able to come straight out of the blocks and get going again, I was really impressed with myself,” Waring said.

“[It has been the] first time dealing for me with a lot of media on a Tuesday and Wednesday. That is something that I’m not used to and something that hopefully I’ll have to get used to.

“It takes time and energy, so to be able to separate that and get on the golf course Thursday afternoon and go again, I'm really happy I was able to reset and get back into that flow state.”

Scoring on the opening day at the Earth Course was not as spectacular as at Yas last week, when the previous course record of 62 was matched twice, while Waring lowered it to 61 on the second day.

Waring was in the hottest match on the course, as Hatton was his playing partner. Even though the latter holds a share of the lead after Round 1, his trademark grumpiness was vented a number of times on the way round.

Notably, Hatton was irked by the turf on the fairways at times, and he said conditions were unusual. “I don’t know how the weather has been over here but the greens are definitely slower than they have been in the past,” Hatton said, after signing for 67.

“Because they are slower, the grain probably takes the ball a little bit more so they don't roll maybe as good as they have done previously and the fairways are a little bit weird, as well.

“The fairways are quite awkward to play off, even on the last, I hit a nice wedge shot and I got a flyer off the fairway. You're not really playing for that.”

Few players in the field will be quite as au fait with the intricacies of the Earth Course as his playing partner. Jumeirah Golf Estates is Waring’s home club, which means he felt comfortable ahead of the start of the championship.

“The surface is a bit different,” Waring said. “It is a bit tighter. You’ll see it’s a bit compacted sand underneath so chipping is not the easiest at the moment, and the greens are just a little bit quicker than what we tend to see sort of week-in and week-out.

“The course has been presented really well with everything that went on at the start of the year with the storms. They have done really well to get it in the state they have.”