Rory McIlroy gets 'lucky' to share Dubai lead

WORLD No9 Rory McIlroy began the defence of his Dubai Classic title by moving into a six-way tie for the lead on four-under-par 68.

The 20-year-old hit five birdies and one bogey to join fellow Briton Stephen Dodd, Swede Alex Noren, South African Charl Schwartzel, India's Jeev Milkha Singh and Italy's Edoardo Molinari at the top of a congested first-round leaderboard.

Blustery winds made scoring difficult in the desert, with parts of the Emirates Golf Club obscured and Dubai's skyscraper landscape lost in the sand clouds. McIlroy started with a second-hole bogey after sending his second shot on to the adjoining 18-hole course. But the Northern Irishman recovered immediately with a "lucky birdie" at the par-5 next.

"I hit my drive into the left rough and then hacked out a five-wood into the right rough and hit a wedge to about 35-feet and then if the ball didn't hit the hole it was going to be another wedge next," he said.

"I was lucky to hit even the side of the hole as it was going to go way past ... it jumped about a foot in the air and went in. I was pretty fortunate and from there on I just played pretty solid golf."

After six straight pars from the fourth, McIlroy birdied the 10th, 12th, 17th and 18th. "It's very important to start off my defence with a good score," he said. "At the start of the day I would have taken anything under 70, looking at the scores and the conditions."

Colin Montgomerie, who shot a 71 to share the tie as leading Scottish player with Richie Ramsay after the opening round, reckoned his score could have been a lot better.

"I have got my swing back and I played a solid round of golf," said the 1996 winner. "It's just a pity I didn't make more of my chances.

"There was only one bogey but not enough birdies. But the rough is as high as it has ever been here and the wind made it difficult to judge club selection and distance." David Drysdale and Dubai-based Ross Bain opened with level-par 72s, one less than fellow countrymen Gary Orr, Stephen Gallacher and Paul Lawrie, the latter dropping three shots in his final two holes.

By contrast, Marc Warren did the damage to his card at the start, taking a double-bogey seven on his opening hole – the tenth – and a triple bogey at the fourth in his 77, the same as Alastair Forsyth.