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Rory McIlroy displayed the quality of golf that has made him Race to Dubai champion as the World Number One joined friend Shane Lowry in a share of the lead on day one of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy carded six birdies and no bogeys in a flawless 66 on the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates to finish alongside Ireland's Lowry in the climax of The European Tour Final series.
That took the 25 year old to an amazing 80 under par for his 21 rounds to date in this event, after previous finishes of third, fifth, 11th, first and fifth.
McIlroy, who wrapped up The Race to Dubai title for the second time in three years with a week to spare, certainly looked ready as he birdied four of his first five holes, the only aberration coming when he missed from eight feet on the third.
A surprising run of nine successive pars followed before birdies at the 15th and 16th ensured he delivered on his promise not to rest on his laurels at the end of a phenomenal season.
“It was a great way to start,” said McIlroy. “You never expect to start like that, but I've been hitting the ball well for the last couple of weeks that I've been practicing and it was just a matter of trying to take that good range play on to the course, and I was able to do that today, which I'm really happy about.
“I feel like it really suits my style of play. I can be aggressive with the driver, and that can set me up to hit shorter irons into greens and obviously give myself a lot of birdie opportunities like I did today.
“I didn't feel like I took as many of them as I could have but it still added up to six under and I'm very happy with that.”
Lowry birdied four of the last six holes as he looked to make amends for his collapse in the final round in Turkey on Sunday, when he eagled the fourth to claim a share of the lead only to triple bogey the next hole and make a double bogey on the sixth.
"The whole day Sunday and the flight down here you're thinking about it," Lowry admitted. "It's one of those things. But I gave myself a chance to win last week. If I can give myself a chance to win again this week, maybe I'll do it.
"I have been playing well for most of the year. I've been very consistent. I've been shooting some great scores, making a lot of birdies and I did that today again."
Scotland's Richie Ramsay and Denmark's Thorbjørn Olesen were a shot off the pace on five under, with defending champion Henrik Stenson another stroke back alongside Argentina's Emiliano Grillo.
Ramsay said: "I'm really happy. Obviously it was a great start, three birdies on the spin, and then played lovely in the middle, had a lot of chances but just didn't take a few.
"But most important was I stayed patient, stayed with it. I kept on hitting good shots and then took a couple of chances on 14 and 15 and then finished off pretty solid coming down the stretch.
"I played great in the middle part of the season. I know the game is there. (It's) just a matter of staying out of my own way and committing to it."
Olesen had reached seven under par at one stage, but double bogeyed the 16th to miss out on the overnight lead.
“It feels like a second home golf course for me really,” said the recent ISPS Handa Perth International winner.
“I played lovely, hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. Hit a few really close, and the putter was working nicely. It was a really solid day.
“When you're seven under going to 16, and you know you have 18 which is a possible birdie chance, also, of course it's a little bit disappointing, but I took a chance and it didn't work out very well.
“I felt like it was going so well and I felt like I could pull it off - that's what happens in golf.”
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