Fitzpatrick Feeling Good In Dubai

Matthew Fitzpatrick is feeling good about his game after taking the first-round lead at the Dubai Desert Classic.

The Yorkshireman finished with four straight birdies on his way to a 65 at Emirates GC, and with four other shots gained elsewhere and just a single bogey on his card, he eventually signed for a 65.

That places Fitzpatrick one shot clear of a group of eight players, including 2017 winner Sergio Garcia, and on a congested leaderboard there are eight more on five-under and a dozen competitors three off the pace.

More perfect scoring conditions are expected in Friday’s second round and after tinkering with both his game and equipment, the 24-year-old says he feels in a good place in the desert.

Fitzpatrick said: “It was obviously a great finish to the round. A couple of things that I’ve been doing in the off-season sort of looked to have paid off a little bit.

“I just added a bit of extra length to my driver, so it’s given me a few yards to help get on in two on the last because I’ve never been able to do that. And then just wedging it a lot better has given me a few more chances coming in.

“I do like the golf course. It’s tough, you’ve got to hit fairways, you’ve got to hit greens and I think it does suit my game if I’m playing well. “So it’s nice to be able to get off to a good start and three more rounds like that would be nice.”