It was night in the desert of Abu Dhabi and the first day of the Abu Dhabi HSBC, the first of the Rolex Series of the year and the first of the DP World desert tour had not finished. And there was Scott Jamieson, in his 300th European Tour tournament of a lifetime, leading with 63 shots (9 birdies), one short of one of the tournament’s biggest stars, Norway’s Viktor Hovland.
On a day that was played slightly below par (71.12 on average)Jamieson, winless for 10 years on the circuit, felt like in Scotland “but hot”, he joked, and ordered a qualifying in which Hovland was slow to pick up the pace. “It was jet lag,” he told reporters after playing at -8 for the last 13 holes. It was much worse for the world number 2, Collin Morikawa, who with 73 strokes is almost ruled out for the final victory, a slogan that he had to fulfill if he wanted to aspire to snatch the world number 1 from Jon Rahm.
Among the Spaniards, Rafa Cabrera Bello, in his re-entry in the year, signed 69 strokes, four birdies and a bogey, and is equal to three under par with Nacho Elvira, who had two holes left to play (8 and 9) in radically different conditions because on Friday he they announce gusts of 30 miles per hour (48 km).
