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.
And Berry wasn’t the only teenager to enjoy success on day one, with Dubai resident Oscar Craig carding an impressive bogey-free 69 with stepfather and seven-time DP World Tour winner Tommy Fleetwood on the bag this week.
The 17-year-old won the Ras Al Khaimah Men’s Open to qualify for the event, and he enjoyed a great start to life on the Challenge Tour with three birdies on day one.
“The start of the first nine I just played really solid,” said Craig. “I didn’t miss many shots, I just stayed confident on every single shot.
“Got to the back nine, my long game was strong and I felt confident with it, I just didn’t hole many putts.
“The last few holes I struggled a little bit, but then I holed some good putts so it levelled out a bit. Overall I’m really happy.”
World No. 11 Fleetwood is usually the one hitting the shots, but he flew in from America following his appearance on the PGA Tour last week to carry the bag for his stepson in Abu Dhabi.
“I landed Monday night, we were here Tuesday morning, played 18 and then played 9 on Wednesday morning as well,” said Fleetwood.
“It’s been unbelievable. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep playing like that, he’ll be just fine.”
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.
Golf fans are encouraged to come along to this week’s UAE Challenge, which is supported by Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Arena, Phoenix Capital and Al Laith to see Grenville-Wood and the stars of tomorrow in action with entry free of charge and no ticket required.
