Rory McIlroy is sniffing around the leaders at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai despite playing some "ugly golf" in what he described afterwards as a "scrappy" first round.
Fellow Irishman Shane Lowry had a day to forget hitting a double and four single bogeys to finish 9 strokes behind the four men tied for the lead.
98FM Sport's Denis Kirwan is in Dubai with all of the latest
After today's first round McIlroy spoke of his relief in finishing well to shoot a 68 to lie just 2 shots off the leaders who are tied on 6 under par
McIlroy and Danny Willett are the top two in the Race to Dubai and while, mathematically, there are still other players who could finish the year as Europe's number one, those two are the favourites.
The Ulsterman chipped in from a bunker for an unlikely birdie on the last hole and he was asked if that could be a good omen for the rest of the tournament
And because Willett is tied with him on 4 under par, does McIlroy think that it feels a bit like matchplay golf
