| -5 V Perez (Fra); -4 M Fitzpatrick (Eng), E Van Rooyen (SA), Robert MacIntyre (Sco); -3 T Hatton (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng), M Kaymer (Ger), S Valimaki (Fin) |
| Selected others: -2 P Reed (US), L Westwood (Eng), H Stenson (Swe); E D Willett (Eng), C Morikawa (US) |
Victor Perez holds a one-shot lead after the opening round of the DP World Tour Championship.
Perez, who could become the first French player to win the Race to Dubai, carded a five-under 67 in the European Tour season finale.
Englishman Matthew Fitzpatrick and Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre are in a three-way tie for second on four under.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood is two shots back while Race to Dubai leader Patrick Reed is a further stroke behind.
Reed, 30, is aiming to make history by becoming the first American to win the European Tour’s Race to Dubai.
The 2018 Masters champion currently leads the standings and a victory at the Jumeriah Golf Estates’ Earth Course will see him achieve “a career goal”.
Fleetwood is one of four players who can guarantee ending the year as European number one with victory, alongside Reed, Lee Westwood and Collin Morikawa.
He returned a three-under 69, and sits alongside fellow Englishman Tyrrell Hatton, Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Finland’s Sami Valimaki in a tie for fifth.
