McIlroy and Clarke in the hunt in Dubai

Spain’s Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano set the pace at the delayed Dubai Desert Classic this morning as he moved on to four under par at a bright Emirates Golf Club to top the early leaderboard ahead of North duo Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke.

After the start to the first round was delayed for two hours and 40 minutes due to morning fog which is expected to affect the tournament all week, three-time Tour winner Fernandez-Castano, who finished a strong seventh in Qatar last week, reeled off four consecutive birdies from his third hole.

Teenager McIlroy also picked up four birdies over his opening seven holes but a bogey six at the 550-yard par-five 13th, his fourth hole of the day after starting on the back nine, left him three under.

Clarke bounced back from an opening bogey and picked up four shots over his next four holes, helped by an eagle three at the dogleg 13th.

English quartet Oliver Fisher, Steve Webster, Abu Dhabi winner Paul Casey and Lee Westwood joined in-form Louis Oosthuizen, European number one Robert Karlsson, Spain’s Jose Manuel Lara and India’s Shiv Kapur at two under.

Oosthuizen looked to be continuing the form which saw the South African record second-place finishes at the last two events in Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

New Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie, world number two Sergio Garcia and former champions Henrik Stenson and Ernie Els begin their challenges later this morning but are not expected to be able to finish their first rounds today due to the delayed start.