Dredge leads field at Qatar Masters

Welshman Bradley Dredge yesterday relied on a birdie blitz to grab the lead on the opening day of the $2.5m Qatar Masters, the second stop on the three-way 'Desert Swing'.
Dredge fired eight birdies - including five on the back nine - to card 8 under par 64 at the Doha Golf Club (DGC) where Mikko Korhonen was a shot behind.
Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and England's Nathan Kimsey closed the proceedings tied at 6 under par 66 on what was a sunny day at the DGC.
A bunch of eight players were tied at 5 under 67 while former champion Thomas Bjorn of Sweden impressed with a card of 4 under 68.
Dredge, 43, launched day one with a birdie on the 591-yard hole one before saving shots on holes 5 and 8.
On the back nine, Dredge - who was tied for 19th spot in Abu Dhabi last week - clearly seemed a man in absolute control of his game on a windless day by firing birdies on holes 10, 11, 13, 15 and 16.
Dredge, who won European Tour titles in 2003 and 2006, was pleased with his first-round action.
“I’m obviously delighted with the score. I’m a bit surprised as I thought I was going to hit the ball a bit better off the tee. I putted really well and 64 was a good number out there,” said Dredge, who is playing the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters for a 16th time, having appeared in the first edition in 1998.
“I’ve played the course enough over the years and I felt as though I really got my eye in, apart from my last two putts. Apart from that, I putted really good. Without the wind, it was the opportunity to go at more flags and get the ball a bit closer to the hole. It makes it a lot easier to get the score going and get the putts in," he added.
Korhonen was just as impressive as the day's leader. The 36-year-old Finn - who started on the back nine - fired birdies on holes 10, 12, 13, 16 and 18 before adding a couple more (on holes 1 and 4) to sit second on the leaderboard at DGC.
McDowell, nicknamed G-Mac, suffered a bogey on hole 6 but otherwise enjoyed a day of 7 birdies (holes 2, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16 and 18) to be tied for third spot with Aphibarnrat and Kimsey.
Aphibarnrat and Kimsey, 23, had seven birdies each against their names. Both players lost a bit of ground with a bogey each.
Aphibarnrat, 27, was thrilled with his card on day one.
"(I was) hitting the ball well. Solid golf. Just missed one green, one bogey, one bad shot today with 3-putt, probably about 12, 13 yards away. Got away with bogey and got the birdies straight away," Aphibarnrat said yesterday.
"It's the way to finish, last two birdies," Aphibarnrat said about his final two holes. "My golf game's still very good. Hit a lot of solid golf today. (I was) more consistent but today (there was) completely no wind. I can't imagine that we played here three or four years ago (with) a lot of wind and it was so quiet today," he said.
McDowell, who shared the clubhouse lead for much of the day, said he couldn't complain after a positive start to his campaign in Doha.
"Very happy with that," McDowell said yesterday. "Incredibly benign conditions for Doha. Even when it doesn't blow here, it typically blows 15, and it was perfect conditions this morning."
"Great to get off to a fast start right out of the gates, birdieing the first three holes, and that kind of set the tone for the day. I really felt like I gave myself a lot of chances, even on the tougher front nine, for my second nine.
"I felt like I left a couple out there, and always nice to shoot 6-under par and feel like you left a few out there. Just the start I was looking for, and felt nice," he said.
Kimsey could barely stop smiling after his 6 under par 66.
"It was a great day. Yeah, just kind of went out this morning, just trying to play some good golf. Just kind of get off to a decent start, and I managed to do that," Kimsey said.
The Briton said four birdies in a row on the turn set up his dominating performance.
"That kind of really got me going. I played well the front nine -- the back nine, my front nine, but not really sort of managed to hole too many putts. Then kind of had a good run around the turn, so that really kick-started the round," he said.
World Number 10 Alex Noren, four-time Major winner Ernie Els, 2018 Ryder Cup Captain Bjorn and 2016 Ryder Cup rookie Andy Sullivan carded 68 to lie in a share of 14th.