Golf in Dubai: Sullivan lights up Fire with course record

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Andy Sullivan during the first round of the Golf in Dubai Championship. (Supplied photo)
Andy Sullivan during the first round of the Golf in Dubai Championship. (Supplied photo)

Dubai - The four-time winner on the European Tour sprung up a course record 11-under 61 to be two strokes

By James Jose

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Published: Wed 2 Dec 2020, 9:03 PM

For better or for worse, the Covid-19 pandemic has changed lives, and for Andy Sullivan, for the better. The pandemic allowed the Englishman to take a step back and reflect on his golf. And that has helped and he has started to enjoy it a lot more now and his golf game is where he wants it to be.

So, it didn’t come as a surprise that Sullivan fought fire with fire and set the Fire Course alight as the Golf in Dubai Championship made its European Tour bow on Wednesday.


And the 33-year-old welcomed the 7480-yard course at the sprawling Jumeirah Golf Estates into Europe’s elite with a jaw-dropping first round to perch himself on top of the leaderboard.

The four-time winner on the European Tour sprung up a course record 11-under 61 to be two strokes ahead of compatriots Ross Fisher and Matt Wallace and Frenchman Antoine Rozner.


His round was, in fact, so good that he was presented with the perfect and rare opportunity to become only the second golfer in the Tour’s history to card 59 after Oli Fisher had done so at the 2018 Portugal Masters.

After a birdie on the par-5 seventh, Sullivan needed to post another birdie on his last hole — the 440-yard par-four ninth, in two strokes. But, as fate would have it, Sullivan sent his tee shot into the rough. And with his approach landing seven feet away, Sullivan had to settle for a par and for a 11-under.

Prior to that though, Sullivan’s putter was purring as he knocked a blemish-free round where he racked up 11 birdies.

“I changed my putting routine yesterday (Tuesday) and it’s helped me trust my instincts more instead of second guessing myself which really helped. The putter was extremely hot today,” Sullivan said after his round.

Sullivan, who beat Spaniard Adrian Otaegui by seven strokes to clinch the English Championship in August, after the Tour had resumed after four months following the Covid-induced break, revealed that the hiatus had given him some perspective.

“Covid really changed everything for me. I had time to sit down and reflect on how I was being on the golf course. I wouldn’t like to say, but I was being an idiot. It’s not nice to say that about yourself. I could think about what I wanted from the game and where I wanted to go with it,” he said.

“I refocused and started enjoying it again. I’ve started to play a lot better. Going out there and enjoying it I know I’m giving myself the best chance to shoot a low score. Coming back to Jumeirah, I’ve always played pretty tidy here on the other course. It’s nice to get off to a flier on this one,” added Sullivan.

Teeing off from the 490-yard par-4 10th with fellow Englishmen Eddie Pepperell and Callum Shinkwin, Sullivan began with a birdie and another one on the par-4 12th. He then blazed a trail with four consecutive birdies from the 15th to the 18th.

His return journey was dotted with back-to-back birdies on the first and second and then the fourth and fifth before wrapping it up with another on the seventh.

Meanwhile, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, a two-time Major champion and who has won the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship thrice, carded a six-under 66 to be placed tied 12th, while Englishman Danny Willett, the 2016 Masters champion, shot a five-under 67 to be tied 20th along with China’s Haotong Li, the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic winner.

Following the tied trio in second, three others — Scotsmen Craig Howie and Marc Warren and Sweden’s Oscar Lengden — were tied for fifth.

UAE’s Skaik cards four-over to be placed 104th

UAE’S No.1 golfer Ahmed Skaik carded a four-over par 76 on the opening day of the inaugural Golf in Dubai Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old, playing in only his second European Tour event after Abu Dhabi earlier this year, had two birdies, four bogeys and a double bogey on the Fire Course to be placed 104th.

As the UAE celebrated its 49th National Day, Skaik was given the honour of teeing off first. And the UAE amateur teed off from the par-4 with Scotland’s Euan Walker and Irishman Niall Kearney.

After playing for par over the first two holes, Skaik bogeyed the par-4 third. He then went on to double bogey the par-4 sixth and finished the front nine with a bogey on the par-4 ninth. He began his return journey with a bogey on the 10th before finally getting his first birdie on the par-4 12th. A bogey followed soon after on the 13th before he finished with a birdie on the par-5 18th.

james@khaleejtimes.com


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