The Ryder Cup star was one over after six holes and level par as he made the turn at Jumeirah Golf Estates but reeled off five birdies in six holes to sign for a 67 and get to five under.

Earlier, Earth Course debutant Guerrier was bogey-free in making the same score at the fifth Rolex Series of the event of the season before in-form countryman Pavon finished birdie-birdie to join him with a blemish-free effort of his own.

Another Frenchman in Antoine Rozner was a shot off the lead alongside Swede Jens Dantorp and Pole Adrian Meronk, one clear of Højgaard’s Ryder Cup team-mates Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland and Robert MacIntyre and South Korea’s Tom Kim.

Dane Højgaard finished fourth over the Earth Course in his only previous appearance at this event in 2021, catapulting himself into the top ten on that season’s final Rankings.

Seven top tens in the 2023 season helped him earn his place in the European Team that defeated the United States in Rome and he had his best result of the campaign finishing second at last week’s Nedbank Golf Challenge.

He has brought that form to Dubai and revealed his Ryder Cup experience had given him the hunger to go to the very top as he looks for a first Rolex Series win.

“Spending time with the best players in the world, fighting for a common goal was amazing, and just being around those guys, seeing what they do, what do I do different, what do I need to work on,” he said.

“It gave me a lot of confidence going into the last end of the season here. You want to play with those guys but you also want to beat them.

“I played really well today. Drove it well from hole number one to 18, even though it was a little bit of a circus on 18, felt really solid. I got on a run. You know there’s a few chances out there, so it’s just about keep hitting good shots and stay present and I feel I did a good job today.”

Højgaard bogeyed the fourth after finding sand off the tee but took advantage of the par-five sixth before his putter came to life on the back nine.

He holed a 25-footer from off the green at the tenth and followed it with an 18-foot putt on the next. An up-and-down on the par-five 14th was then sandwiched by putts of 16 and 20 feet as he surged up the leaderboard.

Guerrier is making his first appearance at the season-ending event after qualifying thanks to three top threes, including his best DP World Tour career finish of second at the Porsche European Open.

He left himself 14 feet at the third, six feet at the fifth and holed an 18-footer at the eighth before hitting a smart approach into the tenth and making the most of the 14th.

That performance belied his debutant status and he admitted that caddie Chris Liley, a veteran of over 20 years on Tour, was a big help.

“I just tried to be really disciplined because I don’t really know this course,” said Guerrier. “My caddie has more experience on this course than me, so I just listen to him. I try to play in the zone and I did it correctly.

“It’s a really tough course. It’s very demanding from the tee because if you are in the rough, it’s really difficult to hit the greens and it’s not too firm, the greens, actually. So it’s more friendly.”

Pavon recently claimed his first DP World Tour title at the acciona Open de España presented by Madrid and has since added two further top 20s in his last three events.

He put approaches to six feet at the fifth and 11th, took advantage of the 14th and then almost aced the 17th before holing a 40-footer on the last.

“What I’ve really released is now I know with my team, we were working on the right way,” he said. “For sure, I had a great, solid year, many top tens but I was missing something to get my first victory and I finally got it in Madrid.

“It’s more confirmation of what we achieve with my team so far and it was nice to have it done a few weeks ago and put me in a good way mentally to play these last two tournaments of the year.”

Meronk is already a three-time winner this season and he holed his second at the fifth from 130 yards for an eagle, the highlight of a round that also contained four birdies and two bogeys.

Dantorp played his way into this event last week and he carded six birdies and two bogeys, with Rozner dropping a single shot in his 68.

Kim was the only bogey-free player in the group at three under, which sat a shot ahead of English pair Dan Bradbury and Tyrrell Hatton, Swede Alexander Björk and Dane Thorbjørn Olesen.

Rory McIlroy has already wrapped up the Race to Dubai title and he was at one under, a shot clear of playing partner and defending champion Jon Rahm.

Image: DP World Tour

The post Nicolai Højgaard among leading trio in Dubai appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

“I fought a lot today against my emotions, I like the place, I like the tournament and I know I did great last year, so a lot coming into my head today but it is all about managing things and this is what I did today and I think I did it pretty well,” said Pavon.

In his 184th start on the DP World Tour, Pavon is in pursuit of his maiden victory. His connection to this tournament, stemming from a solo second-place finish last year, and a childhood spent in Madrid provides him with an added layer of determination.

“What I learnt is that it is tough to beat Jon Rahm. Last year he got me by six shots and I thought I had a great week, he is the kind of player that is on another planet. This week I just try to be myself, I think I have some family from Spain, my grandfather was from Madrid also, so everything is kind of matching up, and I am just happy to be here. I like the course and I am doing great, so I am just enjoying every moment,” Pavon added.

England’s Nathan Kimsey leapt into solo second place after a brilliant bogey-free round that included four consecutive birdies on the back nine, concluding the day at six-under. Kimsey, now just two shots behind the leader, is making his tournament debut, having secured his DP World Tour card for the second time after claiming victory in the Challenge Tour rankings last year.

“When you are playing in one of the final groups on the weekend it makes you a little bit nervous, kind of anxious before getting going to start with, but I played really nice to be fair,” Kimsey said. “I made a great save on 11 out of the bunker to be fair and that helped keep momentum going. I hit it close on 12 and holed a massive putt on 13 out of nowhere, I had hit it in the trees and hacked it to the front of the green, and then holed that 50–60-footer, so just kind of took off a little bit,” Kimsey said as he spoke about some of his key third-round shots.

The competition remains tight, with 10 players lurking within five strokes of the lead. Tied for third place at -12 are Spain’s Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera, DP World Tour winner Romain Langasque and South Africa’s Zander Lombard. Langasque carded eight birdies in his third round, a feat shared with Danielle Hillier, who started his third round with an impressive string of five birdies. Lombard, who began his day at T18, carded a bogey-free round which included six birdies in his third round, while Alfredo recorded seven birdies and Lorenzo-Vera notched five and an eagle, securing a tie for fourth.

Main image: Matthieu Pavon. DP World Tour

The post Pavon clings on to Spanish Open lead on moving day in Madrid appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Frenchman started 64-68 12 months ago at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid en route to a runner-up finish and has gone 63-68 this week to lead the way at 11-under.

For a long time it looked like Pavon would surrender his one-shot overnight cushion on day two but he birdied four of his last six holes to maintain that slender advantage over Dutchman Wil Besseling and India’s Shubhankar Sharma.

Home favourite Alfredo Garcia-Heredia was then at nine-under alongside Frenchman Mike Lorenzo-Vera, one shot clear of England’s Nathan Kimsey, with 11 players four shots off the lead.

Pavon is no stranger to being in contention at the right end of a leaderboard, with two wins on the Alps Tour and three second-place finishes on each of the European Challenge and DP World Tours.

This is the second time this season he has led after both 18 and 36 holes, having done the same at the Italian Open before fading away at the weekend, and he knows the importance of keeping his foot on the gas as he seeks a maiden DP World Tour win.

“I’ll just stick to my plan,” he said. “You can have a lot of opportunities out here, it’s just about staying patient and waiting for some putts to drop and then trying to catch the good momentum on the par fives.

“It looks like it’s really a place that suits my game. I have a lot of memories from last year so I really feel comfortable on the course. I see shots quickly with the yardages I’ve got.

“Today was a strange day, it could have been much better had I started stronger but it could have been worse also so I’m very pleased with the round today.

“I know that I’m putting great this week and that I would have a couple of chances on my back nine because there are two par fives.

“I just tried to stay patient and just wait for one putt to drop and that is what happened — I dropped a putt on the second for par and all of a sudden everything clicked in a little bit and I had some momentum.”

Besseling is in need of a strong finish to the season to keep his playing privileges and he sandwiched a two-putt birdie on the par-five seventh with excellent approaches into the fifth and 12th to get to double figures.

A bogey at the 16th threatened to derail his progress but he made an excellent up-and-down on the last to sign for a 68.

Sharma bogeyed the third but a sand save on the fourth and approaches inside 15 feet on the fifth and eighth saw him turn in 34.

A second bogey of the day on the tenth was followed by an excellent tee-shot on the par-three 11th and he holed from long-range on the 13th, made the most of the par-five 14th and hit a smart approach into the last in a second consecutive 66.

Main image: Matthieu Pavon. DP World Tour

The post Matthieu Pavon stays on top in Madrid appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The Frenchman returns to Madrid after securing a solo second-place finish last year. This season, he has already notched five top-10 finishes, including a notable tied sixth place finish at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last week.

“I feel pretty good. I hit a lot of great shots and from tee to green I was really solid. The putter was also great and overall I was amazed by the play I had today,” said Pavon as he assessed his opening round.

Pavon started off the day strong with an opening birdie and continued with an impressive series of six more birdies and an eagle on the par-five 14th hole. He is determined to capitalise on his recent sixth-place finish and actively seeking his maiden DP World Tour victory.

“The confidence is back from a small tournament I played in France. That was a local tournament and I changed my driver, changed my putter, kind of freshened everything a little bit and I finished second over there,” Pavon said. “I brought that to the Dunhill and finished sixth so lots of positives from the last three weeks and I’m trying to just build on it.

Dutchman Wil Besseling trails Pavon by just one stroke, after an opening 64 featuring eight birdies. The 37-year-old shared his insights into the opening round explaining: “I have had this before in previous years coming from Dunhill and struggling in the wind and the rain and the cold, and then coming here I see the lines. I mean visually it is so different, obviously the weather as well, so I feel right at home here and it has showed in the past and again today.”

England’s Eddie Pepperell opened with a strong round of 66 to sit in tied third place alongside France’s Mike Lorenzo-Vera and Portugal’s Pedro Figueiredo. The two-time DP World Tour winner returns to Madrid for his eighth appearance in this event, having finished tied for 13th last year. Currently ranked 109th in the Race to Dubai, he’s determined to secure a strong finish this week to help him in the battle to retain his tour card for next season.

“It’s a funny game and it drives me mad. I have driven myself mad but I’m trying to just keep focused and forget about everything else that’s going on. I do need a decent result really, but the fact that I can go out there and at least focus on my game and six under, there are definitely some good rounds in me before the year is out,” said Pepperell.

Defending champion Jon Rahm closed the day tied for 13th place carding an impressive four-under 67 during the tournament’s opening round, and all in the presence of the passionate Spanish fans at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid.

Reflecting on his day Rahm said, “It’s a good score. You can’t win it on the first day, but I put myself in a good position. I just feel like I drove it so good, I wish I would have taken advantage of a couple of other opportunities right. I put myself in the right spots often enough and even a couple of holes I struggled to make a birdie on par fives are two great shots, but besides that it was really good, organised round of golf.”

The post Pavon grabs early initiative in Spanish Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

Matthieu Pavon fired the lowest round of his DP World Tour career on Thursday as a stunning 63 saw him open up a two-shot lead at the 2023 Italian Open.

The Frenchman has a lot to play for at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club this week, with a maiden DP World Tour title and the chance to capture European Captain Luke Donald’s attention on this year’s Ryder Cup course.

And he did his chances no harm in a sensational opening round, carding nine birdies and a single bogey to reach eight-under.

Pavon turned in 29 after reeling off six birdies on the front nine before adding three more gains and one bogey down the stretch.

An opening round to remember for @mattpavon ?#DS80OpendItalia

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) May 4, 2023

Maximilian Kieffer was alone in second on six under after making an eagle, five birdies and one bogey in his 65.

France’s Julien Guerrier and China’s Wu Ashun were another shot back on five under after posting 66s in the morning.

Afternoon starter Pavon began his round with a birdie at the first, holing from 28 feet before saving par from even longer range on the second hole.

After birdieing the third, the 30-year-old then reeled off a hat-trick of gains from the fifth to grab a share of the lead on five under.

Pavon hit the front on his own with a seven-foot birdie putt at the ninth before back-to-back birdies on the 11th and 12th took him three shots clear of his nearest challengers.

The Frenchman gave himself another good chance at the 13th but sent his birdie effort racing four feet past the hole before tidying up to remain bogey-free.

Despite missing the 14th green, Pavon managed to get up and down for an important par before missing his close-range birdie try on the 16th.

A bogey followed at the short 17th but he bounced back with a closing birdie.

Pavon said: “All in all it was just great playing.

“Nothing bad to say about today. I was really, really solid off the tee, probably only missed two fairways today – and every time it was by a few inches.

“The putting was amazing also. I dropped a lot of putts. I think I probably made nine putts on my front nine, which is quite funny. Everything was just excellent today.

“I was not really sure about a low, low score like this. I knew I could do great, but that great (63), I’m a bit surprised.”

The post Leader Matthieu Pavon achieves personal milestone on day one in Rome at Italian Open appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.