McDowell blossoms in desert

Graeme McDowell and Ross Fisher carded seven-under-par 65s to move to the top of the leaderboard after the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic.

Ireland’s McDowell carded five birdies and an eagle on the par five 13th while Englishman Fisher shot an impressive eight birdies to move one stroke clear at the at the Emirates Golf Club.

Ernie Els is six under, having given a signal of his intent to capture a fourth title here by storming to the top of the leaderboard earlier in the day.

The South African continued the form he showed in the final round of the Commercialbank Qatar Masters on Sunday as he carded four birdies and an eagle on his outward nine.

He added further birdies on the first and third, his 10th and 12th, before carding a bogey and then making par on the rest coming home.

He is joined by Jose Manuel Lara and Jyoti Randhawa after the duo enjoyed better progress than they had in the previous events on the ’Desert Swing’ this month.

Both players missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship two weeks ago but that fate looks unlikely to beset them this time.

Lara didn’t drop a shot, carding six birdies, and Randhawa made eight birdies and two bogeys.

Defending champion Tiger Woods is four under after a superb run on the back nine saw him climb the leaderboard.

The world number one made slow progress on his outward nine, carding a bogey on the second before recovering a shot with a birdie on the third.

He made par for on the rest of the holes to reach the turn with a par 35 and then carded successive birdies from the 10th, bogeying the 13th but adding three more birdies to finish three shots off the lead.

“I left a lot of opportunities out there,” said Woods. “I didn’t putt well. I didn’t put the ball on line with my putts.

“It was frustrating because the greens are really nice out there. I just have to get some work in here.”

Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood are beside the 31-year-old at four under.

Westwood had a good run on the back nine, carding three birdies without dropping a shot but managed just one on the front nine before making par on the rest.

Clarke made a marked improvement today after his display at the Qatar Masters.

He failed to make the cut in Doha and, though he shot a bogey on his first hole, he went on to enjoy a faultless round, adding five birdies.

Colin Montgomerie made a disappointing finish after a promising run on his first nine holes.

The eight-time Order of Merit winner carded three birdies on a faultless run but was unable to build on that after the turn.

He bogeyed the first, his 10th, and then double-bogeyed the par-four sixth before dropping another shot on the ninth to finish one over par.

Nick Dougherty made an indifferent start as he finished on level par while David Howell finished one under with three birdies and two bogeys on his return to golf after a six-week break.

Notah Begay III also carded a one-under-par 71 with three birdies and two bogeys. The American is eager for a good season to put behind him injury problems that have plagued his career over the last six years.