Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Wilco Nienaber and Joshua Berry all carded seven under par rounds of 65 to share a two-shot lead after day one of the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.
Neergaard-Petersen entered the event atop the Road to Mallorca Rankings and soon showed why, firing three birdies in his opening four holes. A pair of bogeys and six birdies later, he closed out day one in Abu Dhabi with a share of the clubhouse lead.
“It was nice to see a couple of those putts drop early”, he said. “It’s always nice to get off to a good start, so that was lovely.
“Some of the hole locations mean a nice shot from the fairway even with a short club is still a 15 or 20-footer. If you’re going to make birdies, you have to go ahead and make putts.”
Co-leader Nienaber kicked off his round with seven pars before making an eagle and five birdies in his last 11 holes, while 18-year-old Englishman Berry carded five birdies and two eagles himself.
The UAE's No. 1 professional golfer Joshua Grenville-Wood also enjoyed a solid opening day at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club where he carded a bogy-free round of 69.
"It was especially nice to stay bogey free which is always good around here," said the 26-year-old. "I had to scramble pretty hard on the back nine as the wind picked up and I got a little bit loose on the last few holes, but had some really, really good up and downs."
The second round gets underway at 6:30am tomorrow, with Neergaard-Petersen teeing off at 12:30, Nienaber off at 12:50 and Berry off at 12:00.
