– Francesco Molinari (-7) is the first standout leader of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. The Italian has delivered a magnificent card of 65 strokes that was not on any roadmap. The wind and the greens, very fast and increasingly hard, have sharpened the claws of the Majlis course at the Emirates Golf Club. It is not an easy Thursday in Dubai. Do not be fooled by Francesco’s result. He played very well and everything went his way.
– The forecasts have been met and the wind is complicating things. It is not blowing a gale, but enough to make the game very uncomfortable on a course that can blow your mind with crosswinds. There are many holes that turn from the tee and the landing area to be on the fairway is very narrow. With wind, they become tubes. You don’t even have to play horribly badly to end up over par.
– Francesco Molinari’s lead should be classified as a huge surprise. It is his best round of golf since the first day of the World Wide Technology Championship in Mexico, PGA Tour’s fall tournaments. In all of 2025, he has only signed a result of 65 strokes or better. You have to go back three years to find his last top 10 in a no-cut, full-field tournament. He is playing little and lacking consistency, the cornerstone of his golf in his best years.
– Today he did everything well. He hit irons reminiscent of the past, especially in the final stretch of the round (holes 7, 8, and 9). Additionally, he made some very good and extremely difficult putts, like on the 14th, and holed one from outside on the 11th. There was no other way to make 65 strokes today than by squeezing every resource.
– Molinari’s performance is a big surprise, but Rory McIlroy‘s (+1) is even more so. The Northern Irishman shot 73 strokes. It is his first round over par on this course in twelve years. It sounds quick. The last time he lost the battle against the Majlis was on the final day of 2014, when he delivered 74 strokes. Since then and until today, there have been 27 rounds under par and one at par. Obviously, during this time he has done everything in Dubai. It has even rained, so it would be very ridiculous to blame the wind. The big problem, without a doubt, has been from the tee. It has been extremely difficult for him to stay in play.
– Molinari has a two-stroke lead over the bomber Mikael Lindberg (-5), three over Joel Girrbach (-4), and four already over Yuto Katsuragawa (-3), the only player without bogeys, Wenyi Ding (-3), Andrea Pavan (-3), and the Spaniard Manu Elvira (-3). It is very unlikely that any player will reach Molinari’s result in the afternoon session. The wind continues to blow generously, in gusts, very cross, and, above all, the greens are getting harder.
– Rory’s disappointment, we will see how long it lasts and how he reacts this Friday, contrasts with the good rounds of Shane Lowry (-2) and Tyrrell Hatton (-2). Anything that ended under par this Thursday meant directly presenting a candidacy for the title. Therefore, much value for the round of South African amateur Chriatiaan Maas (-2), as well as for the Canary Islander Rafa Cabrera Bello (-1). A very hard-fought round. Two birdies and a solitary bogey. Finally, Nacho Elvira (+1) experienced a small roller coaster, finishing with a great birdie on the 9th, and Ángel Ayora (+3) had a bad day.
