Spain’s Rafael Cabrera-Bello was delighted to produce a strong finish as he began 2014 by taking a share of the lead at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
The two-time European Tour winner birdied three of his last five holes as he came home in just 32 for a five under par 67, which was matched by England’s Matthew Baldwin and France’s Romain Wattel on the opening day of The European Tour’s Desert Swing.
“It's the first round of the year for most of us,” said Cabrera-Bello, who bogeyed his opening hole but was faultless for the remaining 17.
“I have not competed for the last five weeks, so even though I have been practising and trying to recreate competition, it's not quite the same, so I'm pretty pleased.
“I started good and I held my nerve and more than that, I played the game I know I can play.
“It is tough out there. You need to drive it good, otherwise the rough, it's very, very thick, and it's not easy to play out of. You need to be playing very good off the tee and the greens are rolling really good, so I think that you can make the putts.”
Baldwin recorded his best European Tour finish when he was a runner-up at last month’s Nelson Mandela Championship, and continued that good form with seven birdies and two bogeys.
“I played nice in the Nelson Mandela and hopefully continue to do so,” he said.
“It's been a nice preparation, and five days in the sun last week helped.
“It's given me confidence to go on and hopefully keep challenging and maybe a win is around the corner, you never know.
“I want to win. There are plenty of guys that obviously they want to win, as well, but I think looking at the year ahead, top 60 is a target but definitely to get a win under the belt would be superb.”
Wattel has already had two top-five finishes on The 2014 Race to Dubai having played some excellent golf in South Africa in December.
And the 22 year old Frenchman continued to shine with five birdies in a blemish-free round.
“That's a good test all the time, Abu Dhabi, so really pleased with the five under par and it's obviously really nice to start the tournament,” said Wattel.
“I tried to save all the bad holes I had and that's what I tried and that's what I did, so I'm really pleased with that and I'm going to try to do the same for the next few days.”
Ryder Cup Captain Paul McGinley celebrated the anniversary of his appointment by carding a fine 68 to finish one shot off the pace, while Rory McIlroy returned a flawless 70 and Open Champion Phil Mickelson shot an uncharacteristic 73 with 17 straight pars and one bogey.
On a congested leaderboard, McGinley was joined on four under by Dutchman Joost Luiten, Nelson Mandela Championship winner Dawie van der Walt, South Africa’s George Coetzee, Portugal’s José-Filipe Lima and Scottish pair Marc Warren and Craig Lee.
