Rory McIlroy gave himself a perfect launching pad to bid for a record-equalling eighth Order of Merit crown when he battled to a three-under-par 69 start in the European Tour's Tour Championship on Thursday.
As swirling wind and thick rough at the Earth course of Jumeirah Golf Estates tested the field, McIlroy was solid in a round that included five birdies and two bogeys. That tied him for third place in the 50-man field, two shots behind leader Joost Luiten.
The veteran Dutchman, the lowest-ranked player to make it to the tournament, hit the first tee shot of the morning and made the most of the calmer early conditions.
Danish southpaw Jacob Skov Olesen edged ahead of a group of five players in tied third place at three-under with a birdie on the last to post a 68.
World No. 2 McIlroy was playing with the man he is chasing in the Race to Dubai, Eugenio Chacarra in the final group of the day, and now has a three-shot advantage over the young Spaniard.
He is aiming to join Scotland's Colin Montgomerie as the only eight-time European winner of the season-long title.
A win on Sunday would make any result from Chacarra meaningless as far as the Order of Merit crown goes.
Anything worse than solo fourth for McIlroy would complete a remarkable journey for Chacarra, who quit LIV Golf at the end of 2024.
"Very pleased with that round," said reigning Masters champion McIlroy. "It was tricky. Windier than it usually is...
"Anything in the 60s today, I felt was a good score. And sort of held it together nicely when I needed to. It was nice to finish with a birdie at the last, and in a pretty good position going into the next few days."
Chacarra made three birdies in a row before the turn to get to two-under par, but found a couple of bogeys on the back nine.
"Obviously, playing in the last group, the wind was out there and the greens weren't as good as in the morning. So, we knew it was going to be a long day," said the 26-year-old world number 37.
"I am proud of the fight... I'm playing good golf. I just need to be able to clean the card a little in the next couple of days."
Luiten, 56th in the Race to Dubai, was the last man in, and felt he had nothing to lose. He will now play in the final group in Friday's second round.
"I told my caddie we can only go up this week. We're last in and we've got nothing to lose, so let's go for it. And it has worked out so far," said Luiten, who was five-under through the front nine, dropped shots on back-to-back holes on 11th and 12th, and then picked up two more.
Patrick Reed, third in the Order of Merit, slipped to a three-over 75 and is in tied 41st place.
South Africa's Casey Jarvis, fourth at the start of the week, was one shot better than Reed at 74.
Spain's Jon Rahm, who jumped into contention by winning in Abu Dhabi last week, opened with a one-under-par 71.
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