Renato Paratore and Shaun Norris shared the lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship with Day 1 almost completed.
Out early on Thursday, Paratore raced to the top of the leader board, carding an 8-under-par 64 to leave everyone else trailing in his wake. Norris then followed later in the afternoon, emulating Paratore's nine birdies and a dropped shot.
Brooks Koepka, the returning world No 1, and Jason Scrivener, the world No 148, were two shots back in third, while 2017 Masters champions Sergio Garcia headlined a group on 5-under.
It was Paratore who first burst out of the blocks, firing four birdies in his opening six holes. He finished pretty sprightly, too, picking up shots on each of the final four. In between, a not-too-disruptive bogey on the 7th, and another birdie to open his back nine. Aged 23, and with one European Tour victory on his CV to date, Paratore sits at 273 in the global rankings.
Obviously, then, he was pretty happy with the day’s work.
"Today the short game was really good, and also, the iron play," Paratore said. "The last four holes, I holed some good putts to finish also on 18 and 17. So I'm pretty happy with the short game.
"I just started really well today, and really confident on the putting. Then I was just trying to keep on my mind, keep making birdie."
Last year, Paratore started the season rather slowly. He finished tied-54th in Abu Dhabi, then missed the cut in seven of his next 11 events to fall outside the top 400.
However, a tied-28th at the Scottish Open prompted an upturn in form, with Paratore finishing joint runner-up last time out, in Mauritius early last month.
“Yeah, Mauritius I played really solid from tee-to-green,” he said. “It gave me some confidence, and then in the break, I worked on my short game and more on the body. This one helped me.”
FIXTURES
Saturday, November 3
Japan v New Zealand
Wales v Scotland
England v South Africa
Ireland v Italy
Saturday, November 10
Italy v Georgia
Scotland v Fiji
England v New Zealand
Wales v Australia
Ireland v Argentina
France v South Africa
Saturday, November 17
Italy v Australia
Wales v Tonga
England v Japan
Scotland v South Africa
Ireland v New Zealand
Saturday, November 24
|Italy v New Zealand
Scotland v Argentina
England v Australia
Wales v South Africa
Ireland v United States
France v Fiji
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
Crops that could be introduced to the UAE
1: Quinoa
2. Bathua
3. Amaranth
4. Pearl and finger millet
5. Sorghum
'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
Rating: 1 out of 4
Running time: 81 minutes
Director: David Blue Garcia
Starring: Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Mark Burnham
SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
Company Profile
Company name: Cargoz
Date started: January 2022
Founders: Premlal Pullisserry and Lijo Antony
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 30
Investment stage: Seed
Profile
Name: Carzaty
Founders: Marwan Chaar and Hassan Jaffar
Launched: 2017
Employees: 22
Based: Dubai and Muscat
Sector: Automobile retail
Funding to date: $5.5 million