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Rory McIlroy established a two shot lead on the opening day of the WGC-HSBC Champions as the former World Number One set about justifying his pre-tournament predictions.
McIlroy won five times in 2012, including a second Major title by eight shots, to finish top of the money lists on both side of the Atlantic but has yet to taste victory this season.
Down from first in the Official World Golf Ranking to sixth as a result, McIlroy is 62nd on The Race to Dubai and needs to move into the top 60 this week to have a chance of qualifying for the DP World Tour Championship in November.
McIlroy is less than €4,000 behind Garth Mulroy in 60th place, but will need to win much more than that to feel safe.
The first prize of €1,012,145 would of course take care of everything and McIlroy took confidence from his one shot victory over Tiger Woods in their 18-hole exhibition match at Mission Hills on Monday, insisting he was more likely to win in Shanghai than miss out on a trip to Dubai.
And that did not appear to be an idle boast as the 24 year old opened with a seven under par 65 to lead Wales’ Jamie Donaldson and last week’s BMW Masters champion Gonzalo Fernandez-Castaño by two.
Starting from the tenth with a birdie, McIlroy gave the shot straight back at the next but also picked up shots at the 12th, 14th and 16th.
A long birdie putt was left inches short on the par three 17th but McIlroy made no such mistake from four feet on the par five 18th to reach the turn in 32, before another birdie on the first took the former World Number One into a share of the lead on five under.
McIlroy moved into the outright lead with a birdie on the par five second and although he missed from six feet to double his advantage on the third, he holed from similar distance on the next to avoid a three-putt bogey.
Open Champion Phil Mickelson emerged to join McIlroy at the top of the leaderboard with his sixth birdie of the day on the short par four seventh, the left-hander driving close to the green and producing a trademark pitch to three feet.
But in the group ahead, McIlroy holed from seven feet for a birdie on the par five eighth to regain top spot on seven under par, and Mickelson dropped four shots on the eighth moments later to undo much of his good work.
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