Sterne takes early lead in Dubai

Richard Sterne shot an eight under par 64 to open up a one-shot lead after day one of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club.

The 39-year-old South African birdied his final hole of the day to jump ahead of American Kurt Kitayama on seven under, with Sergio Garcia and Justin Harding a further shot back.

Garcia, won this event in 2017, enjoyed his return to the United Arab Emirates, recording a flawless 66. Fellow Ryder Cup player Paul Casey made a fast start before settling for a 67, and was later joined at that mark by Adrian Otaegui, Thomas Detry and Scot Robert MacIntyre.

Sterne, who has won six times on the European Tour, said: “It’s always good to get off to a good start.  I’ve come close here before, so it would be nice to have a chance going into the weekend. I haven’t had many chances going into weekends for a long time, so it would be nice to get through tomorrow and place myself well and see how the weekend goes. I had a wrist operation in March last year, so I was out basically for the whole of last season. I played the last few events, and I played pretty decently, considering I had not played for so long. And then last week gave me a lot of confidence. I struggled the first few days, and played really nicely on Saturday. But finishing 25th there has given me confidence. I’m just trying to watch my back, so I haven’t put much preparation into this week. Just got nine holes in Tuesday yesterday and I didn’t even come to the course yesterday. So I was pretty happy with my performance today.”

Garcia said: “I felt comfortable out there for sure. I felt like I hit a lot of good shots. Conditions were pretty good, but they were tricky. So it’s nice to see rounds like today, because it shows that I’m putting some good work in there and just got to keep doing more of that.”

Casey, who hasn’t played at The Emirates since 2013, said: “This is a difficult golf course. The last time I played here was seven years ago. It was difficult then. It’s grown some teeth in the last few years, with some new tees, so I’m very happy with my score. It’s difficult to read the greens and make putts around here. They have always been tricky, a bit of grain in there, so I can’t complain with that start.”

He added: “I feel lucky because golf courses are open in Arizona. To be honest, I took advantage of it. I spent a lot of time playing, so I’m hoping that will help me put some decent scores together.”

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