Rory McIlroy has made a bright start in his bid to be crowned Europe's top golfer for the seventh time with an opening-round 66 at the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.
The 36-year-old, who is bidding to secure a fourth title in a row and move to within one of Colin Montgomerie's record eight order of merit titles, lurks within two shots of clubhouse leader Michael Kim at Jumeirah Golf Estates.
McIlroy was fast out of the traps with three successive birdies, including an 18ft putt at the third.
That run however came to a halt with at the par-3 fourth after finding the greenside bunker from the tee. That bogey proved to be his only dropped shot of the round though and four more birdies helped the Down man to a 66.
Kim leads the way after a blemish-free round that included eight birdies, with the American one shot clear of Tommy Fleetwood. McIlroy, joined by Andy Sullivan, Thriston Lawrence, is a further shot adrift on -6.
Englishmen Marco Penge and Tyrrell Hatton are the only players who can relieve McIlroy of top spot in the Race to Dubai, but would need to come at least second or first, respectively.
Penge struggled badly on Thursday with a two-over par 74, while Hatton sits on two-under par.
Shane Lowry, who is 112th in the overall rankings, also made a blistering start after opening with four successive birdies, but failed to add to that until the final hole to finish on four-under par and tied for ninth.
The Offaly man's putter was red hot early on in Dubai, holing from 22ft at the second and 18ft at the fourth.
Indeed, he went very close to chipping in off the back of the green to make it five on the spin, while he threatened again at the par-3 sixth with a putt that nine inches short.
Lowry dropped a shot after finding trouble at the greenside bunker at the 12th, but concluded on a positive note at the 646-yard 18th, a wonderfully controlled iron shot landing him to seven feet, from which he duly holed out for a 68.
Tom McKibbin sits on two-under par after shooting a 70.
Having birdied the fifth and the seventh, the 22-year-old had a sticky patch before the turn.
A chip off the green at the eighth led to a bogey, which was compounded by another at the next, the par-4 ninth.
The 366-yard par-4 15th offers opportunities for anyone with a solid drive and McKibbin's brilliant approach left him with a two-foot birdie putt.
He picked up another shot at the last to finish half a dozen shots adrift of the lead.
