It wasn’t the start Thriston Lawrence wanted – or needed – on Thursday as he battled his way to a one-under-par 73 in the first round of the DP World Tour Championship while his playing partner soared to the top of the leaderboard.

Lawrence, who is second on the Race to Dubai rankings, needs to win and beat Rory McIlroy, the leader on the rankings, if he is to win the whole thing, but five untidy bogeys in the opening round have made a difficult task even tougher.

He made four birdies, but an uncharacteristically poor display off the tee – he hit only half of the fairways – and a below-average day with the putter left him six strokes behind McIlroy and the top of the leaderboard.

In a share of the lead at five-under with McIlroy was Tyrrell Hatton, who made seven birdies and two bogeys. McIlroy, in search of his sixth Race to Dubai title and the Harry Vardon Trophy, dropped just one shot while making six birdies.

“I thought I played well. I hit the ball pretty well. I gave myself plenty of chances, plenty of looks,” McIlroy said.

“I want to go on from here and win the golf tournament. I’ve opened up with a really good score, but I need to go out and play similarly over these next three days, not just to try to win the tournament, but also to try to get the job done in the Race to Dubai.

“I’m under no illusions that that was probably Thriston’s worst day. If he goes out and has three good ones, I still need to go out there and play some very solid golf.”