To coin a phrase, it was game of two halves for Paul McGinley in the opening round of the Qatar Masters today.
On a day of very low scoring, the Dubliner was in danger of falling irrecoverably out of touch with the early leaders.McGinley’s sluggish start began with bogeys at the third, seventh and eighth for an outward nine in three-over par 39.
As the joint leaders, Mark Pilkington and Robert Karlsson, were making light work of the windy conditions, McGinley’s predicament necessitated a convincing recovery mission. And so he did.
While Pilkington and Karlsson share the overnight lead on nine-under with course record rounds of 63, the Dubliner produced a back nine worthy of his determined effort.
Birdies at the 12th, 13th, 15th and 16th for a four-under back nine gave the 34-year-old a one-under opening round 71. And more importantly, McGinley gave himself a fighting chance of getting back into the tournament.
European Tour veteran Des Smyth joins McGinley on one-under, but the 48-year-old Drogheda golfer should have finished higher.A combination of bogey then double-bogey on the 14th and 15th hindered Smyth’s progress.
Ronan Rafferty, the 1989 European order of merit winner, produced his best opening round of the season with a three-under par 69. Rafferty is joined by last week’s winner of the Dubai Desert Classic, Thomas Bjorn and fellow countryman Eamonn Darcy on the same tally.
Dave Higgins is one shot further back on two-under, the same score as the defending champion Holland’s Rolf Muntz.