Westwood transfers beach heroics but Wiesberger leads Dubai Desert Classic on Day 1

Fresh from life-saving heroics on a Barbados beach, Lee Westwood showed his golf game has not suffered with an opening round 65 at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.

Lee Westwood during the opening round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic. Stringer / EPA

DUBAI // What began as a nice human-interest story soon acquired Moby Dick proportions.

Lee Westwood made the news for reasons other than golf this month, when he saved a man from drowning while on holiday in Barbados. Relaxing on a sun lounger at his hotel, the former world No 1 heard someone in distress, rushed into the Atlantic and hauled the man to safety.

Cue front-page reports and Baywatch memes on social media. However, having emerged for his season debut at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic on Thursday, Westwood seemed reluctant to give his Hasselhoff moment the fish-tale treatment, too.

“It wasn’t quite as dramatic as the papers would have you believe,” he said. “I wasn’t swimming through shark-invested waters or killer jellyfish, or climbing over razor-sharp coral.”

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Finally submitting to his heroics, Westwood allowed himself to apply a little artistic licence of his own.

“I got up off the sun bed — athletically, obviously — pounded down the beach towards the sea, lifted him up over my head, carried him out of the water and brought him back to his sun bed,” he added.

And the sharks?

“I kicked their [backsides] with my spare hand,” he said.

Given his first round at Emirates Golf Club, superhuman feats are obviously not confined solely to his personal life.

Westwood was playing professionally for the first time since his victory in Thailand last month, but there were few signs of rust as he carded a blemish-free seven -under-par 65.

At that stage, he shared the lead alongside Nicolas Colsaerts and Andy Sullivan, while Rory McIlroy, the world No 1, and Stephen Gallacher, the defending champion, were one shot worse off.

No wonder Westwood is relaxed about the season ahead.

“I’m in a good frame of mind, very happy and pleased with where my game is at and the direction it’s going in,” he said. “I am delighted with how I played today.”

Delighted would be an apt description of Bernd Wiesberger’s mood, as well.

The Austrian later carded a flawless 64, which included five successive birdies on the back nine. Coming off a third-place finish in Qatar last week, he is very much of the if-it-ain’t-broke mentality.

It appears to be working.

“I’ve prepared well for this week, tried to do the same things,” Wiesberger said. “It was a special back nine. It was nice to get to eight-under.”

Despite finishing one shot back, it was safe to say Sullivan’s day was much nicer – amazing, even. It had less to do with his five birdies and an eagle, though, and more about the company he kept.

The young Englishman, in his third year on the European Tour, has already proved he can mix it with the sport’s best, demonstrated by his breakthrough victory at this month’s South African Open.

A first professional win must be rather special, and it would presumably rank right at the top of the career highlights reel.

Not any more, though.

“It was the best day of my life playing with these guys,” said Sullivan, after partnering McIlroy and Martin Kaymer around the Majlis.

“I can’t put into words how happy I am; a dream come true. When I heard I was playing with them, I thought it was a mistake.”

Good job he performed as well as he did, then.

In fact, playing alongside a duo with six major championships between them actually served as motivation.

“It took some pressure off, but I didn’t really look at the leaderboard,” Sullivan said.

If he had, he would have seen Colsaerts there all morning. The Belgian headed the charts early on, firing eight birdies and a bogey for a 65.

It continues his recent trend upwards, which is welcome following what have been a difficult few seasons for the 2012 Ryder Cup star, precipitated by his decision to take up membership on the PGA Tour the following year.

Back on familiar ground, Colsaerts is gradually returning to form.

“It’s just a sign of how comfortable I am playing over here,” he said. “It really has the vibe of coming back home.”

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