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.