Luke Donald shot a 7-under 65 in the opening round of the Dubai World Champion on Thursday to lead Rory McIlroy and two others by one stroke, set-ting up a potential showdown between the world's top two golfers at the season-ending tournament.
Donald saved par on Nos. 1 and 4 by sinking an 8-footer and 15-footer, and some accurate up-and-down play helped him make four birdies in a stretch of six holes. Donald came within a few feet of the pin on the 10th and 11th for easy birdie putts and then barely missed an eagle on 14.
"It was a nice, solid start," said the Englishman, who overtook Tiger Woods for the No. 2 ranking following his win last week in Japan and made six of his seven birdies on the first 10 holes on Thursday. "It was very tidy. Just a lot of solid golf. I gave myself a lot of opportunities."
Donald fended off a challenge from McIlroy at the tournament last year to become the first player to clinch both the European and PGA Tour money titles. But since then, he has watched McIlroy match that feat this season and overtake him at the top of the rankings earlier in the year.
"I'd love the challenge," Donald said of facing McIl-roy Sunday. "Rory is No. 1 in the world. And it will be fun for us. It will be fun for the fans and obviously fun for TV. It would be a great way to end the year."
McIlroy struggled on the front nine, shooting only one birdie, but soon turned it around with a stretch of five birdies in seven holes.
