![]Justin Harding and his caddy on the third. The South African finished joint early leader in the clubhouse after carding a 66. Getty](https://www.thenationalnews.com/resizer/v2/QLVHXZB3SLDFVTKG3OXDTN4FRM.jpg?smart=true&auth=edd7231fdfbfbcb9d0e688dfa9f8899fda37c79ce63dd9123261ab9a8596b135&width=800&height=450)
When Sergio Garcia fist-bumped his first-round playing partners ahead of the 8.10am match at the Majlis Course on Thursday, he might have been feeling his age.
It barely feels like yesterday when the Spaniard was being talked of as the bright young thing of world golf.
He made his first European Tour cut aged 15 – which was two years before one of the young tykes beside him in the opening throes of the 2021 Omega Dubai Desert Classic was even born.
Now aged 41, Garcia remains one of the most recognisable figures on the Tour. But the fact is, he was the lowest-ranked player in the showpiece three-ball at the start of the Classic.
Garcia famously had to wait till his 74th major before he won one of golf’s most gilded titles – that of the 2017 Masters.
By contrast, Collin Morikawa, who was playing alongside Garcia in Match 17 at Emirates Golf Club, won on just his second start in a major, at the PGA Championship last year. Aged just 23, he is already up to No 4 in the world rankings.
One place below him, as of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship win, is Tyrrell Hatton, who was the third player in the star-studded match up.
Despite giving away 40 places in the world rankings to Hatton, and 41 to Morikawa, it was Garcia who thrived, making the most of the benign conditions to shoot 6-under.
“The desire’s still there,” Garcia said, after signing for a 66 that gave him a tie for the lead among the early finishers in the opening round.
“At the end of the day, we’re still competitors. I really enjoyed playing with Collin today, but my focus, it's a little bit different than it was with family and getting married and having kids.
“That doesn't mean that I'm not a competitor. I still love to compete. I love to practice, to try to get better, and that's what I try to do all the time.
“It's nice to see rounds like that one today, because it shows that I'm putting some good work in there and just got to keep doing more of that.”
The last time Garcia held the first round lead at the Classic, back in 2017, he went on to win the title.
That wire-to-wire success preceded the finest individual triumph of his career, as he went on to claim the Masters a few months later.
His game looked in sparkling order in the morning sunshine in Dubai, most notably by way of his glorious approach to the testing par-4 14th. That set him up for one of the six birdies he made on a blemish-free trip round.
“I felt comfortable out there, for sure,” Garcia said. “I felt like I hit a lot of good shots. Conditions were good, but they were tricky. The greens are a little patchy when it comes down to firmness.
“Some spots are really firm and some spots you can definitely spin it. So it's just a matter of getting the right hops there.
“But other than that, I felt like it was a good, solid day, and I’m very happy with the way it went.”
Garcia’s fine round gave him a share of the early lead with Justin Harding, who was pleased to have begun his week in fine style.
“Everyone here would say that they would love to start well,” Harding said. “It's a little bit of peace of mind, so to speak, if you do get off to a nice enough start and post a couple good results.”
Garcia and Harding held a one-stroke lead over three players at 5-under, which included Paul Casey, who is returning to the Classic for the first time in seven years.
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Gallery: hazy start in Dubai
