DUBAI // Playing without even a practice round, Australian rookie Kalem Richardson held a one-shot lead at the top of the leaderboard on the opening day of the inaugural Dubai Open after shooting six-under par in blustery conditions at the Els Club on Thursday.
The Dubai Open is the final tournament of the Asian Tour season and marks the first time the UAE has featured on the Tour’s calendar. It also marks the first time the Els Club has hosted a professional event.
Yet Richardson, who has finished in the top five twice in his past five starts on the Tour, leads a 114-player field, which includes 2011 Open winner Darren Clarke and world No52 Tommy Fleetwood, all without as much as a recce.
Yesterday, the 26 year-old Richardson enjoyed a solid if unspectacular start, finishing the front nine on two-under with a birdie on the third and an eagle on the par-5 eighth being marred only by a bogey on the ninth. His back nine proved flawless as he notched four birdies from his final six holes.
“It was a pretty crazy day for me,” Richardson, who arrived in Dubai after playing five consecutive tournaments, said. “The last couple weeks I’ve been a bit tired and this week I’ve taken a different approach and basically haven’t done anything for three days. I hadn’t actually seen the course, so I was playing blind.”
Richardson is trailed by a quartet of players on five-under: Singapore’s Chih Bing Lam, Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand and English duo Craig Hinton and Chris Cannon.
If Richardson was playing blind, Cannon, a Mena Tour invite, was navigating his way around the immaculate par-72 course with the equivalent of high-definition lenses.
The 29-year-old has lived in Dubai for the past four months and played the Els Club four or five times in the build up to this week. He called his opening round – five birdies and no bogeys – probably the best of his five-year professional career.
“Off to a good start,” he said. “I played really solid golf; simple as that. Obviously when you start off, it’s always nice not to drop a shot early and things like that. It was a really tough up-and-down. I played it quite nicely using the slope and stuff. It was just a great way to start and I finished from there. I played really solidly and made a couple of putts, but it was just a good round of golf, really. Simple.”
Prom Meesawat of Thailand, who needs a win here to finish second on Asia’s Order of Merit, signed for a 71, while Clarke played to par.
Fleetwood started the day knowing he needs only to finish in the top 16 on Sunday to qualify for next year’s Masters, but endured a round to forget, signing for a 75. The Englishman shot four bogeys either side of a double-bogey on the 16th before recovering to sink three birdies from his last five holes.
“I played terrible really for 12 holes,” Fleetwood said. “I basically avoided a disaster on the first day with the last few holes, and that’s the only saving grace of the day. I hit a terrible drive on 16 and then was just falling apart as I was playing. I couldn’t do anything right. No matter what shot I tried to hit, it was nowhere near what I wanted to do. Sometimes you get days like that.
“Luckily three-over is not a million miles off the leader, so at least I’m sort of one good round away from being in contention again.”
gmeenaghan@thenational.ae
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