Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood were among the early pace-setters behind first-round leader Michael Kim at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy, chasing a seventh Race to Dubai title, sits two shots off the lead in joint-third place after a six-under round of 66, one behind Ryder Cup team-mate Fleetwood, whose opening 65 lifted him to second.
American Kim produced a flawless eight-under opening round of 64 on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates to hold the outright lead.
McIlroy made a flying start by birdieing the first three holes and dropped his only shot on the fourth before further birdies on the seventh, 10th, 11th and 14th to sit tied for third alongside England’s Andy Sullivan and South African Thriston Lawrence.
Another Englishman, Brandon Robinson-Thompson, Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard and New Zealand’s Daniel Hillier are a shot further back. Justin Rose and Shane Lowry are among a large group on four-under after rounds of 68.
McIlroy will win his seventh order of merit title if he finishes in the top two, while the only other players who can catch him, English pair Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton, are tied in 43rd and 22nd place respectively after rounds of 74 and 70.
PA
