Thriston Lawrence got his 2026 off to a solid start on Thursday when he made three birdies on his opening nine in the DP World Tour’s Dubai Invitational at the Dubai Creek Resort in the UAE.

He started his round on the 10th, and picked up strokes on the 11th, 13th and 18th, and then made pars all the way to the ninth on his homeward none before dropping his only shot of the day.

The wind came up during the day which explained the difference between the two nines for many of the players, including Lawrence.

Up front, Rory McIlroy declared his opening round of 66 as a “nice way to start the year” as he held a one-shot lead. Scotland’s Connor Syme and Spaniard David Puig were McIlroy’s closest rivals at four-under. Matt Wallace rolled in four straight birdies around the turn to surge ahead at seven-under, but two dropped shots and a double-bogey saw him slip down the leaderboard.

Jayden Schaper, who finished 2025 so well with two successive victories, started his round on the first and, after picking up a shot on the fourth, he dropped one on the seventh. But he kept it together with three birdies after the turn as he reached three-under through 15. But another bogey on the 16th saw him join Lawrence on two-under-par in a share of ninth.

Dylan Frittelli and Jacques Ktuyswijk were on one-under in a share of 19th. Shaun Norris carded a one-over 72, while Dylan Naidoo was on four-over. Ockie Strydom struggled to a nine-over 80 to bring up the rear of the field in 59th place after Rihcard Mansell retired.