– Apologies in advance for this naive chauvinistic exercise. There will be time, perhaps tomorrow, to backtrack with our tails between our legs. But let’s get on with it now. First round of competition at the Dubai Invitational and of the year 2026 on the DP World Tour, and in the top ten of the tournament, the red and yellow colours of the Spanish Armada lead, with David Puig (-4) as the spearhead, just one stroke behind a very powerful leader: Rory McIlroy (-5), no less.
– Up to five Spaniards have started up there, among the top ten. In addition to Puig, we have Ángel Ayora (-3), Pablo Larrazábal (-2), Eugenio Chacarra (-2), and Nacho Elvira (-2). Puig’s round and score gain even more relevance considering that the man from La Garriga teed off in the last group and had to play more holes than anyone else, dealing with strong winds. At the start of the day, there was barely a breeze, which gradually turned into a stronger and stronger wind, so much so that Puig, for example, played something like the last two-thirds of his round in much more challenging conditions.
– The course at Dubai Creek Resort is certainly not one of the most challenging of the year, but it should be taken seriously, especially with the rough it currently has, which is more penalising, not to mention if the wind helps, as it did today in the last three or four hours of play and, above all, as it will on Friday and Saturday, with gusts expected to reach fifty kilometres per hour.
– Tommy Fleetwood (-2), who was also in the last groups, managed to finish with birdies on holes 17 and 18 to say ‘here I am’ and confirm that his title defence is still on. The Englishman had a very quiet round, but it’s hard to unsettle him, and he ended up sinking birdie putts, about seven metres on the 17th, and from about ten on the 18th.
– As for Rory… He started playing on the 10th hole and in his first ten holes, he scored up to seven birdies, hitting all greens in regulation and leaving many balls close to the pins. A fresh and early display, although in the second half of his round, he appeared more human, and the birdies and big shots stopped cascading. Be that as it may, the detail remains, and who knows what unconfessed goals the Northern Irishman has set for 2026…
– Jayden Schaper (-2) has also started strong, the player of the moment on the European circuit at the start of this season, with two wins and a second place in the three tournaments he has played so far. His chances of a hat-trick, therefore, remain intact.
– And tomorrow, as mentioned, good fun on the course, because the forecast speaks of a medium and sustained intensity of thirty kilometres per hour from the early hours of play, with the addition of the aforementioned fifty-kilometre gusts. As it should be: glory and drama from the starting gun.
