Jimenez flying high after eagle

Miguel Angel Jimenez carded an eagle on his outward nine to take the early lead in the opening round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters in Doha.

The Spaniard, who finished second at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship on Sunday, grabbed the first eagle of the day on the par-four 16th and also registered two birdies for a four-under-par 32.

Jeev Milkha Singh also enjoyed a good run on his first nine holes, carding birdies on the 14th and 16th to be two shots behind Jimenez.

Defending champion Henrik Stenson had successive bogeys on the 10th and 11th, his first and second, but recovered with birdies on the 16th and 18th to complete the back nine on par.

Paul Casey, looking for back-to-back victories in the Middle East, finished the back nine with three superb successive birdies after making a poor start with bogeys on the 10th and 11.

Paul McGinley, meanwhile, was level par after nine holes with a bogey on the 10th cancelled out by a birdie on the 16th.

Darren Clarke, Chris DiMarco, Ernie Els and Retief Goosen were among the later starters.