KARIM SAHIB/ AFP
Thomas Pieters was the person to catch on the high of the leaderboard when the primary spherical of the weather-affected Hero Dubai Desert Classic was suspended attributable to fading mild on Thursday night.
Heavy in a single day rain meant all tee instances have been delayed by six hours and 5 minutes on day one, with play lastly getting below manner at 13:15.
Only the primary wave of starters teed off on Thursday – with the opposite half of the sphere having to attend till Friday – and simply 12 gamers managed to finish their first rounds earlier than the daylight ran out.
Belgian Pieters suffered the frustration of lacking the minimize finally week’s Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as his title defence fell flat.
But he bounced again brilliantly on the second Rolex Series occasion of the season at Emirates Golf Club, carding six birdies and a single bogey in his first 15 holes to get to 5 below par.
England’s Daniel Gavins had sat alongside Pieters when the hooter sounded however opted to complete up on the 18th in near-darkness and surrendered a bogey to affix the massive group on 4 below.
Gavins and countrymen Oliver Wilson and Matthew Jordan signed for 68s to set the early clubhouse goal, whereas final week’s winner Victor Perez, Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed have been additionally on 4 below with a couple of holes remaining.
Nicolas Colsaerts, Ryan Fox, Fabrizio Zanotti and Matt Wallace have been one other shot again with holes nonetheless to finish.
Play will restart at 8:00 am on Friday morning, whereas the second wave will begin their first rounds from 8:20 am.
How issues stand as fading mild introduced day one to an in depth 📊 #HeroDDC | #RolexSeries
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 26, 2023
