Molinari leads the Hero Dubai Desert Classic golf tournament… and a rocky start for McIlroy

Italian Francesco Molinari achieved 7 strokes under par, with a total of 65 strokes, to take the lead in the first round that launched the 37th edition of the “Hero Dubai Desert Classic”, the most prestigious golf tournament in the region, which is one of the elite events in the Rolex Series within the “Race to Dubai” on the DB World Tour, in which the best stars in the world compete for financial prizes amounting to 9 million US dollars.
Molinari, 43 years old, succeeded in turning back the hands of time as he sought to win his first title on the tour since winning the British Open title in 2018. He has 6 titles in his collection, as the harvest began twenty years ago with his victory in the Italian Championship in 2006.
Molinari is looking forward to making up for his early exit from the tournament last year, as he left at the end of the first two rounds, one shot ahead of the best scorers who completed the two decisive rounds later.
Molinari said: “Obviously the word good comes to mind, it wasn’t completely surprising, but I didn’t expect a result like this. Last week I felt completely unprepared, so I was hoping it would be a good preparation for this tournament. I kept a good pace in the middle of the round, where I played some tough holes and hit some good pars. Obviously I’m very happy with the start. Obviously the wind is strong. It’s oscillating between the northwest and the north. But I managed to focus on the present moment, as we always say, no need to stress or “Emotion.”
England’s Tyrell Hatton, the defending champion, had a relatively average start, scoring two strokes under par with a total of 70, keeping his chances of competing at this early stage in the tournament, while Rory McIlroy, who holds the record for the number of crowns on four occasions, had a modest start, scoring one stroke above par with a total of 73 strokes, which is the same result achieved by Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, one of the candidates to compete for the title.
Spaniard Manuel Elvira continued to build on his victory last week in the Dubai Invitational, scoring 3 shots under par with a total of 69 shots in the first round of this tournament.
For his part, Emirati Adrian Otaegui scored 72 strikes with a score equal to the average, to maintain his chance of qualifying for the decisive rounds, while Ahmed Sukayk, the captain of our national team, in his first appearance as a professional player in this tournament, was satisfied with scoring 6 strikes above the average, with a total of 78 strikes.
On the other hand, the “Pro-Am” exhibition tournament was concluded, which is held before the start of the competitions, and brings together the most prominent professional players participating in the tournament with amateur players, who compete in a team system.
The “Nakheel” team, led by Spaniard Eugenie Chakara, achieved victory on the first day with a total score of 46 shots under par, while the “Emirates Global Aluminum Team” team, led by New Zealander Ryan Fox, achieved victory on the second day, with a total score of 27 shots under par.