Scott Jamieson’s strong start to the 2022 DP World Tour season continued at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship presented by Phoenix Capital as the in-form Scot earned a share of the first round lead alongside Germany’s Sebastian Heisele.
The 38-year-old put himself into contention for a second career title two weeks ago in Abu Dhabi, leading or sharing the lead after all of the opening three rounds in the first Rolex Series event of the campaign before eventually finishing in a share of tenth spot.
After a solid performance in Dubai last week, Jamieson opened with a seven under 65 at Al Hamra Golf Club – which hosts the DP World Tour for the first time this week – to move to the top of the first round leaderboard for the second time in three weeks.
He joined Heisele, who also signed for a bogey-free 65 in the benign morning conditions at the northernmost United Arab Emirate, the 33-year-old making his first appearance on Tour since last September.
They enter the second round one stroke clear of the USA’s Johannes Veerman, South African Brandon Stone, Thomas Detry of Belgium and Scotland’s David Law, who all share third place on six under par.
Player quotes:
Scott Jamieson: “My iron play was good today, I didn’t actually drive it particularly well. I wasn’t miles off the fairways but the fairways are firm, so tricky to hit. But there’s not a great deal of rough so I was able to still get it reasonably close.
“I just picked up where I left off at the end of November, I did a bit of work but nothing dramatic. No great overhauls which I’ve maybe been guilty of in the past, instead of just improving on what I have a little bit here and there.
“I think being ready mentally was key, being ready to hit the ground running and thankfully I was able to do that.
“There’s not a great deal of rough off the tee but your bad tee shots will still be punished, if you’re far enough off line from the tee there’s some pretty nasty lies in the sand. So it’s a second shot golf course, if you can hit it in close and take advantage you should be in good shape.”
Sebastian Heisele: “It was a steady round obviously, I’ve had a few months away from golf and I’ve just been trying to get healthy so I’m very pleased with today’s work.
“I got to a point last year where I couldn’t compete to be honest, I didn’t feel quite there, couldn’t concentrate was quite nervous and couldn’t recover very well and I knew something was up. So I had my thyroid removed in early October and I feel like a new man more or less. I turned things around for the better for me so I’m happy I got it done.
“I couldn’t imagine sat on the plane that it would be like this, I was a bit nervous and didn’t know what to expect. I had a few decent days of practice leading up to today obviously and made the most of it. This is one of the better rounds I’ve had in a while so on we go to tomorrow.”
Johannes Veerman: “I played really solid today. When you go bogey-free you always feel like you’ve squeezed everything you could out of your round, and that’s how I feel. I plugged in the bunker and made par, but overall I’m very happy with how I played today.
“I had a lot of chances, and I missed some. But bogeys kill your momentum, especially out here, so if you can just play steady and not drop shots, you can go low.
“I played pretty well last week, after one day of prep after arriving early Wednesday morning. It was really good, T35 after being super-jetlagged so a lot positives to take away from that. I’ve only played five rounds this season but so far I’m pretty happy!
“I don’t think about the win too much, I know it’s in my back pocket like I’ve done it before, a little feather in your cap – I know it’s in there and it’s not something I haven’t done before. So I guess with that added reassurance that I’ve done it before, it’s making me look forward to the season more.”
Brandon Stone: “It was a very fun day. I played solid all day, bogey-free which is always a bonus, my trainer Gavin back in South Africa owes me a 1,000 calorie workout courtesy of the bogey-free round. But I’m very happy.
“I think it’s obviously a lot more forgiving than the last couple of weeks, Yas Links and Emirates Golf Club have been extremely challenging. We found ourselves this morning without a breath of wind, with pins that we can get to and the greens are true as anything, about a foot and a half slower than last week.
“Overall the course is there to be played, I hope the wind gets up a little bit and gives us a little bit more of a challenge over the next two weeks, but overall it’s a fantastic venue and I’m just enjoying my time here.
“Today was without a doubt the putting round I’ve had all year so far, I putted beautifully, I holed a lot of 15-20 footers, a lot of four-five footers here and there too which is great. I just played solid, was never in trouble, never stressing, hit a lot of greens, gave myself a lot of opportunities today and I was the lucky one to be able to convert a few of them.”
Thomas Detry: “I’ve been playing some really good golf in the last few months or so, I had two strange weeks the last two weeks. A missed cut last week which felt a little bit strange with a game that’s in real good shape.
“I got off to a good start, three birdies in a row and I was on a roll. The wind picked up a little bit in the middle of the round. It was tricky out there but I managed to play the tough holes really well – birdie on ten and birdie on 12 were key. I’m very pleased with the way I played today.
“I’m very excited about tomorrow, the morning should be nice and soft and good smooth greens as well, so hopefully I’ll be able to roll a couple of putts in and maybe I will be able to move into the lead.”
David Law: “It was a good day. It was windy, and I think it was playing a lot tricker than we thought it was going to play in practice. The pins were tough as well, so it was difficult to get it close.
“I think it might have been a bit different in the morning without the wind but if I’d finished four under I’d have been really happy with that, so to finish off like that was a nice way to finish.
“We had a look this morning and we didn’t think the scoring was as low as we thought it would be which is actually quite a nice place to be, because sometimes you pitch up and expect it to be a really low one. If it doesn’t start really well you get really impatient.
“Me and my caddie Max discussed that yesterday, to remain patient no matter how the round is going – it is easy to get sucked into thinking you should be making birdies on hole when you’re not, and I think when they set it up with pins in tough places and, with the wind which we probably didn’t really expect, it’s just important to remain patient and calm.
“There are some tough holes around the turn, the start is pretty favourable and the end is pretty favourable, but around the turn is probably the most important part of the golf course. I played that in level par which I was happy with. I took chances, holed some nice putts so it’s a great way to start the week.”
