Scott Jamieson is tied for the lead after the opening day of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship with Aberdeen’s David Law only one shot back.
Jamieson made a fine start to his 2022 season by leading all three of the opening rounds at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship before finishing in a share of tenth spot.
He continued his good form with an opening seven-under 65 at Al Hamra Golf Club to share top spot with Germany’s Sebastian Heisele.
Jamieson said: “My iron play was good, 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.”
On his good form, he said: “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.”
Law shares second spot with American Johannes Veerman, South African Brandon Stone and Thomas Detry of Belgium on six under.
The 30-year-old finished with a flourish by holing out for eagle with a lob wedge from 71 yards on the 18th.
He said: “It was a good day.
“It was windy and 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.
“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 it was nice to finish like that.
“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 the round 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.
How things stand after 18 holes 📈#RakGolfChamps
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“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.”
Fellow Scots Grant Forrest, Craig Howie and Robert MacIntyre all opened with rounds of three-under 69.
Connor Syme is one under with David Drysdale level par and Richie Ramsay one over after a 73.
