Golf: Scots duo find top gear in Dubai

On a day when Paul Lawrie was upstaged, for once recently, by some of his compatriots – last week’s Qatar Masters winner was “not a happy bunny” after seeing a run of 50 holes without a dropped shot ended by a closing double-bogey 6 in his 71 – Jamieson carded a splendid seven-under-par 65 over the immaculate Emirates course. It left him in a tie for second alongside German Marcel Siem, just two shots behind Spaniard Rafael Cabrero-Bello, who had his sights on recording the European Tour’s first-ever 59 when he stood on his 12th tee nine-under before parring in for his 63.

World No 2 Rory McIlroy, who was watched by girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki, bagged seven birdies in his last ten holes to be well-placed on 66, the US Open champion coming close to matching Gallacher’s feat of recording a hole-in-one at the 185-yard 15th. The Scot, who hit a 7-iron and was delighted as the ball bounced once on the green before trickling into the hole, reckoned it was his tenth ace in total but only his second on the European Tour. “Ironically, the other one was on this same course – over at the fourth,” he revealed.

His prize on this occasion was a brand-new Mercedes s300. “Get in,” was his initial reaction to that before remembering that he’s only recently bought himself an Audi Q3. “So I think I’ll just have to take the money,” he added with a smile.

The shot, which helped Gallacher to an opening 69 and a tie for 20th alongside Richie Ramsay, continued a run of holes-in-one for Scots on the European Tour. Last season alone, Elliot Saltman recorded three aces himself, though unlike Gallacher he missed out on a flashy car each time. At the Wales Open in June, he had two holes in one in the same tournament and won a stay at the Celtic Manor Resort and then, after achieving the feat again in the Madrid Masters later in the year, he won his own weight in ham.

Jamieson brought home the bacon yesterday, lighting up his round with an eagle-3 at the 550-yard 13th, where he hit an 8-iron second shot to eight feet, and backing that up with five birdies in a flawless opening effort. “That felt great,” said the 28-year-old Glaswegian, who recorded three top-three finishes in the first half of last season to make the Great Britain & Ireland team for the Seve Vivendi Trophy.

“It was probably one of my best ball-striking rounds ever. I hit a lot of shots really close. I didn’t hole many particularly long putts but I holed out well.”

The rookie gave a fabulous account of himself in helping Paul McGinley’s team come out on top in Paris but saw his form dip thereafter as he eventually finished 59th in the Race to Dubai. “I probably played too much golf in the middle of the season and lost a little bit of hunger playing week in, week out,” he reflected. “You are sometimes better taking a week off and then you want to be back out there.

“I will try a slightly different schedule this year. The idea is not to play too many in a row.”

Lawrie “struggled” with his driver but was still on course to be handily placed at three-under playing his last – the par-4 ninth. However, the former Open champion put his second on top of the wall bordering the greenside lake, had to take a penalty drop and was unable to pitch and putt to limit the damage to a bogey. “I was not a happy bunny when I came off the course as my final hole was really frustrating,” he admitted. “I hit some lovely iron shots to shoot 71. It should have been a lot less as I holed very few putts.”

The same hole cost American John Daly, fourth last week, a 7 as he also opened with a 71, the same as playing partner and 1996 champion Colin Montgomerie.

David Drysdale signed for a 70, Dubai-based Ross Bain 72 and Peter Whiteford 73, while Marc Warren and George Murray had matching 74s. World No 3 Lee Westwood had a 69, four less than compatriot Robert Rock managed on his first appearance since winning in Abu Dhabi a fortnight ago.