After the first round of the DP World Tour Championship at Dubai’s Jumeirah Golf Estates, the American was at the top of the leaderboard. Michael Kim played the first 18 holes of play on the Earth Course perfectly, closing with an opening eight-under 64 to put him one spot ahead of Tommy Fleetwood. Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy leads a six-under group that includes Thurston Lawrence and Andy Sullivan.
“Everything was going well,” Kim said. “I hit the fairway a lot, hit the irons really well and made some putts.”
Kim’s start in Dubai will be her 10th appearance in the Race to Dubai, which takes into account the Grand Slam and the PGA Tour’s co-hosted Scottish Open. The 32-year-old is enjoying his time on and off the ropes, taking advantage of the season to travel around the world while playing golf. Kim’s victory at the Open de France the week before the Ryder Cup increased his chances of playoff contention and secured him a spot in the final round of the season with a top-10 finish at the Indian Championship.
Similar to previous trips, Kim had an easy first round with three birdies in the first nine holes. But once he finished the turn, he found himself in another gear, hitting five par breakers over a six-hole stretch to stake his claim to the top of the leaderboard.
“I enjoy being able to travel to so many wonderful countries,” Kim said. “The PGA Tour primarily stays within the United States, which is great, but it also comes to places like Abu Dhabi, Dubai and France. I personally enjoy traveling a lot. The competition is still great and I’ve really enjoyed my time here.”
Kim, like Fleetwood, will be looking to put an exclamation point on what has been the best season of his career. The British player was back in form with his own bogey-free effort en route to a first-round 65.
Fleetwood, who were the first-round leaders in last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship against Yas Lynx, returned to victory in the Indian Championship and found himself firmly in the squad after the opening refrain for the third successive tournament. Like Kim, Fleetwood also made the most of the day at the start of the back nine, adding five circles to his scorecard over a six-hole stretch.
If he wins on Sunday, Fleetwood will become the second player to win the Tour Championship and DP World Tour Championship (a tournament rather than a season-long event) in the same season.
“We’ve been doing it bit by bit for a long time,” Fleetwood said. “We’ve been playing very consistently for a long time, and now we’re on a great run. I hope this is the way I play golf and not just a great run, but we’ll have to see what happens next. I think it’s always about trying to consistently improve day in and day out, no matter how small that step is. Sometimes you get lucky and it shows.”
Fleetwood, like many players, is out of contention for the Race to Dubai title, and on Thursday McIlroy made things even more difficult for those who entered the week excited about the race that continues throughout the season. The Northern Irishman posted his lowest opening 66 since 2021 on the Earth course.
This performance, along with Marco Penge’s 74 points in T46 and 70 points in T22 from Marco Penge, who must finish at least second, was enough to put the Race to Dubai on ice. A lot can still happen over the next 54 holes, but McIlroy is sitting pretty single-handed through the round heading into his fourth straight race to Dubai, the seventh of his career.
“I felt like that was probably one of the best rounds of approach play I’ve had in a long time,” McIlroy said. “I felt like my wedge play was very sharp. I had a lot of good iron shots. I don’t want to seem too disappointed, but I feel like I missed some shots. I missed some short shots. Overall, it was a really solid start on a very comfortable golf course and I played very well historically.”
