Dubai, Jan 22 (NationPress) Francesco Molinari showcased his golfing prowess with an impressive 65, taking a two-stroke lead after a challenging opening round at the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic. The Italian, who last celebrated a victory at The 147th Open Championship in 2018, navigated the windy conditions at Emirates Golf Club seamlessly, achieving eight birdies and only one blemish on his scorecard.

Play was halted at 5:50 pm local time due to fading light, leaving nine players to finish their rounds on Friday morning.

It was a difficult start for India's Yuvraj Sandhu, who managed an early birdie on the 13th hole, his fourth, but faced setbacks on the 17th, resulting in a lost ball and a triple bogey due to penalties.

He showed signs of recovery, birdying the 18th and the first two holes, bringing him back to 1-under despite the tough conditions. However, a disastrous stretch from the fourth to the ninth holes saw him bogey four times, finishing at 3-over. Shubhankar Sharma, also benefiting from a sponsor’s exemption from Hero, was 2-over through 16 when play was suspended, recording three bogeys against one birdie.

Molinari has regained his competitive form after a lackluster 2025 DP World Tour season, highlighted by a top-ten finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in December and a successful cut at last week's Dubai Invitational. He briefly shared the lead with Mikael Lindberg before Lindberg birdied to set the clubhouse target at five under.

However, Molinari, a Rolex Series winner at the 2018 BMW PGA Championship, concluded his round with three consecutive birdies, establishing a two-shot lead for the night.

"Not entirely unexpected, but I didn’t foresee such a score," Molinari reflected. "Last week, I felt quite rusty, so I hoped for good preparation this week.

"The putter made a significant difference. I made some key putts and maintained momentum during the middle phase of the round, where I faced a couple of tricky holes but managed to secure pars. Overall, I’m very pleased with the start."

The 43-year-old initiated his round with a simple birdie at the tenth hole, followed by a successful fringe putt at the 11th to move to two under. Although he dropped a shot at the 12th, he quickly regained momentum with a birdie on the following hole and sank a 20-foot putt for another gain at the 14th.

Molinari’s next birdie came at the fourth, a remarkable 65-foot putt that brought him to four under, momentarily tying him with Lindberg and Joel Girrbach, who were both in the clubhouse at four under.

Lindberg birdied the last hole to take the lead, only for Molinari to respond with a birdie putt at the seventh, reclaiming the top spot.

He added another birdie at the eighth with a five-foot approach, followed by a similar shot at the ninth, extending his lead to two strokes.

Lindberg made a remarkable comeback with birdie-eagle-birdie sequences from the second hole but faced a drop at the 16th before finishing strong with a birdie at the 18th, setting an early target before being surpassed.

JC Ritchie started with an eagle at the tenth hole, adding birdies at the 13th and 18th, offsetting a bogey at the 15th. The South African closed in on Molinari with three consecutive birdies from the second hole but double-bogeyed the sixth to finish at four under.

Golfers from Japan, China, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the USA, including Patrick Reed and Johannes Veerman, shared a piece of fifth place at three under.