Published July 17, 2008 on February 23, 2018

Rai Shines for Share of Doha Lead

---

Rising young English star Aaron Rai finished with a sublime eagle on the opening day at Doha Golf Club to move into a share of the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters lead alongside his more experienced counter-parts Grégory Havret and Eddie Pepperell.

The 22-year-old from Wolverhampton posted a flawless seven under 65 in the Qatari capital after reaching the lengthy par five final hole in two before holing a 12-foot eagle putt to card the hole’s only three all day.

Rai said, “I drove it well and then gave myself a lot of opportunities with the approach play, didn’t miss too many greens. It can get very tricky around the greens here with the Bermuda grass being very hard to predict.

“I think we were very fortunate this morning to have it so calm but the course itself is very good. There are some tricky holes but there are some opportunities if you drive it well and have some good approach play.

“It was all pretty steady, I didn’t really make too many mistakes. Gameplan-wise, you have to be doing something right and playing some good golf to shoot a 65 so I’ll just continue in the same vein and try not to change too much.”

Like Rai, Havret also posted a flawless opening round as the Frenchman, who is on course to reach 500 European Tour appearances this season, went on a hot streak with six birdies in eight holes from the sixth – including four in a row – en route to a 65. Pepperell’s 65, meanwhile is his lowest round since last October’s Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Former Ryder Cup player Edoardo Molinari, who chipped in for birdie at the last, and seven-time European Tour winner Alvaro Quiros were a shot back on six under par alongside Englishman Oliver Fisher and Germany’s Marcel Schneider.

First Day Results

65 A Rai (Eng) , E Pepperell (Eng) , G Havret (Fra) ,
66 A Quiros (Esp) , M Schneider (Ger) , E Molinari (Ita) , O Fisher (Eng) ,
67 A Otaegui (Esp) , L Gagli (Ita) , M Ilonen (Fin) , S Heisele (Ger) , T Detry (Bel) , J White (Eng) , S Crocker (USA) ,
68 P Larrazábal (Esp) , G Fernandez – Castaño (Esp) , M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) , M Baldwin (Eng) , D Drysdale (Sco) , C Shinkwin (Eng) , M Pavon (Fra) , P Waring (Eng) , L Bjerregaard (Den) , J Wang (Kor) , J Smith (Eng) , P Khongwatmai (Tha) , R Karlsson (Swe) , E Van Rooyen (RSA) , M Kinhult (Swe) , C Wood (Eng) , M Warren (Sco) , S Gallacher (Sco) , J Thomson (Eng) , J Lagergren (Swe) , C Bezuidenhout (RSA) , J Walters (RSA) , P Lawrie (Sco) , J Choi (Kor) , A Pavan (Ita) ,
69 S Brown (Eng) , A Sullivan (Eng) , S Fernandez (Esp) , S Sharma (Ind) , M Southgate (Eng) , S Gros (Fra) , H Porteous (RSA) , H Sturehed (Swe) , W Ashun (Chn) , R Cho (Kor) , R Evans (Eng) , G Coetzee (RSA) , S Han (USA) , D Howell (Eng) , M Wallace (Eng) , M Nixon (Eng) , S Jamieson (Sco) , R Bland (Eng) ,
70 J Scrivener (Aus) , M Schwab (Aut) , O Farr (Wal) , J Dantorp (Swe) , T Jaidee (Tha) , R Rock (Eng) , B Hebert (Fra) , F Aguilar (Chi) , G Forrest (Sco) , R Jacquelin (Fra) , C Pigem (Esp) , M Manassero (Ita) , F Zanotti (Par) , J Geary (Nzl) , B Dredge (Wal) , H Tanihara (Jpn) , M Kieffer (Ger) , A Björk (Swe) , J Kruyswijk (RSA) ,
71 J Guerrier (Fra) , T Olesen (Den) , N Geyger (Chi) , C Syme (Sco) , R Gouveia (Por) , C Ford (Eng) , N Elvira (Esp) , R Paratore (Ita) , B Stone (RSA) , C Koepka (USA) , M Foster (Eng) , N Colsaerts (Bel) , D Horsey (Eng) , R Wattel (Fra) , C Sordet (Fra) ,
72 R Sterne (RSA) , A Chesters (Eng) , R McGowan (Eng) , J Winther (Den) , J Donaldson (Wal) , T Aiken (RSA) , B Neil (Sco) , S Maisey (Wal) , J Morrison (Eng) , D Brooks (Eng) , R Ramsay (Sco) , A Saddier (Fra) , S Lee (Kor) , S Khan (Eng) ,
73 G Bourdy (Fra) , C Hanson (Eng) , N Bertasio (Ita) , P Angles (Esp) , M Korhonen (Fin) , P Widegren (Swe) , S Hend (Aus) , S Brazel (Aus) , D Fichardt (RSA) , R Phillips (Eng) , M Siem (Ger) , A Bland (Aus) , D Im (USA) , S Chawrasia (Ind) , S Al Kurdi (am) (Jor) ,
74 L Slattery (Eng) , T Pulkkanen (Fin) , J Suri (USA) , L Jensen (Den) , S Horsfield (Eng) , J Heath (Eng) , L Canter (Eng) , A Wall (Eng) , A Marjan (Mar) , A Baig (am) (Pak) ,
75 B Evans (Eng) , T Bjørn (Den) , C Lutton (Sco) ,
76 D Clarke (Nir) , Z Lombard (RSA) , A Al Kaabi (am) (Qat) ,
77 G Moynihan (Irl) ,
78 A Al Shahrani (am) (Qat)

Photo credit: Getty Images