England’s Tommy Fleetwood shot a 10-under-par 62 to equal the course record and lead by one shot after the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
Dane Thorbjorn Olesen and American Johannes Veerman share second place, with English trio Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Waring and Laurie Canter and Italian Francesco Laporta one stroke further back.
Scotland’s Bob MacIntyre went round in seven under, England’s Alex Fitzpatrick and Matthew Jordan six under and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy five under.
Fleetwood said: “When you shoot a 62, obviously everything is going to have gone very, very well.”
McIlroy needs to finish in the top two at Yas Links to win a sixth Race to Dubai title, before the final event of the European Tour season at the World Tour Championship in Dubai next week.
McIlroy, who has spent three weeks in a studio hitting balls at a screen with a modified swing, said his performance on day one of the tournament “felt OK”.
“I probably wasn’t as imaginative out there – I was hitting very straight shots.”