Shane Lowry off to strong start but Rory McIlroy struggles in Dubai

Shane Lowry had a strong opening round, while Rory McIlroy faced challenges at the Dubai Desert Classic.

 

After experiencing a disappointing finish at the Dubai Creek Resort the previous weekend, Lowry responded positively on Thursday with a two-under par 70, navigating tough scoring conditions at Emirates GC. Starting on the 10th hole, he made birdies on the par fives at the beginning and end of his front nine, and also sank a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-four 14th. However, he lost strokes on the 12th and 16th holes due to wayward shots.

 

At the par-five third hole, Lowry reached two-under par after escaping from a greenside bunker, but quickly relinquished that stroke by three-putting the short fourth hole. He encountered difficulties at the fifth, where a wayward tee shot landed on the cart path, leaving him with a challenging approach. He managed to hit his wedge within 11 feet of the hole but missed the birdie opportunity.

 

On the eighth hole, Lowry found the center of the green from a bunker and successfully converted a 24-foot birdie putt. He sits tied for 11th place, five strokes behind leader Francesco Molinari, the 2018 Open Champion, who shot a round of 65 with six birdies between the seventh and 14th holes. Molinari leads Sweden’s Mikael Lindberg by two strokes at five-under.

 

In contrast, McIlroy had a less impressive start, finishing with a one-over par 73. The four-time event champion, who last won in 2024, struggled during his round, particularly after a double-bogey seven on the 18th hole, where he inadvertently hit his ball into the water after laying up from the rough. This left him at two-over par at the turn.

 

McIlroy managed to recover slightly with birdies at the par-five third and sixth holes, but another dropped stroke on the short seventh and a missed birdie putt at the ninth left him behind. His fellow competitors, defending champion Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood, shot rounds of 70 and 73, respectively.

 

In the afternoon, Tom McKibbin and Padraig Harrington posted rounds of 71 and 72. McKibbin, a LIV player who qualified for this year’s Masters after winning in Hong Kong, began with two birdies and two bogeys but remained consistent afterward, finishing at one-under par after a single birdie on the short 11th hole. Harrington, at 54 years old, reached two-under after playing well on the back nine but dropped two strokes in his final five holes to finish at even par. Harrington’s best result in this event came in 2001 when he tied for second with Tiger Woods, two strokes behind winner Thomas Bjorn.