Rory McIlroy admitted he played some "ugly golf" down the stretch but was happy to begin the DP World Tour Championship with a 68 in Dubai.
McIlroy played with his closest Race to Dubai rival Danny Willett in the season-ending event at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and both were four-under for the day and are two shots off the pace after the first round.
The world No 3 turned in 34 and dropped his only shot of the round after a wild drive at the 10th, but he birdied the next two and then did well to save par at the 17th after chipping from the green to avoid putting through the fringe.
McIlroy was also struggling to save par at the last when he dunked his third into a greenside bunker, but he holed the escape for a welcome birdie before Willett rolled in his fifth birdie putt of the day.
The 26-year-old, who has a lead of just 1,613 points over Willett after an injury-hit campaign, said: "It's nice to get round in 68. I felt like it was a little bit of a struggle at times out there but to finish the way I did makes it feel a lot better. It never really looked like a four on 18. I hit into the bunker off the tee, hit a good lay-up shot but a terrible third.
"It was one of those ones where you just had to get it out and it could trundle its way toward the hole. I knew I could get it close but I was pleased to see it drop in. That was a nice way to finish.
"It was a bit scrappy before that. I bogeyed the 10th hole and then got it back with a couple of good birdies straight away. In between those birdies and the birdie at the last, there was a bit of ugly golf in there.
"But to produce something like that and obviously the way I finished makes it feel a lot better. I'm very close. I hit a lot of good shots out on the course but not as many as you've seen.
"Ball-striking tee to green for the most part has been very good, all throughout the year and it's been the putter that held me back. But I felt like I putted well today, so that bodes well for the next three days."
Willett admitted he had visions of missing his birdie putt after McIlroy's bunker shot, but he calmly holed to keep the pressure on the reigning European No 1.
"It's quite a short week after flying in from China, trying to get your body back on the right time," Willett said. "I had a good couple of days' practice but still would like one more. The two of us didn't play our best but four under will put you right up there.
"I played some pretty decent golf apart from a couple of little scrappy ones in there. Obviously it helped both of us shooting a good number, and you can treat it a little bit like match play in that situation.
"Like I said in the press conference earlier in the week, you don't want to play match play if you're level par or one over par but as soon as you're going along quite nicely, it ended up being a pretty good match."
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