DP World Tour: Molinari sets the early pace at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

Francesco Molinari tees off the 8th during round one at the Emirates Golf Club / credit: Getty Images

Francesco Molinari rolled back the years with a stunning 65 to lead by two shots after a windy first round at the 2026 Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

The Italian, who has not been in the winner's circle since lifting the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie in 2018, made light work of the breezy conditions at Emirates Golf Club thanks to eight birdies and one dropped shot.

Molinari returned to form after an indifferent 2025 DP World Tour campaign with a top-ten finish at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in honour of Gary Player in December before starting the calendar year with back-to-back events in Dubai.

The 43-year-old briefly joined Mikael Lindberg at the summit before the Swede closed with a birdie to set the clubhouse target at five under.

However, Molinari finished his round with three consecutive birdies to carve open a two-shot advantage and take the overnight lead at the opening Rolex Series event of the 2026 Race to Dubai.

"I mean, obviously good comes to mind" Molinari said, reacting to his opening round. "Not super unexpected but I wasn't expecting a score like that. Last week I felt very rusty, so I was hoping it would be very good prep for this week. Yeah, putter was the biggest difference to be honest. Made some nice putts. Kept the round going in the middle where played a couple of iffy holes and made some good pars. Obviously very, very pleased with the start.

It's not easy. It's very tricky. The wind obviously is up. It's sort of switching between northwest and north. And the greens, I think are the biggest difficulty. They are fast and firm. They are getting to the point where your putter has leaves on it, always a sign of firm greens.

It's been a long time. I've changed everything and then I've changed back. I'm back working with Denis Pugh. That's been really nice. He doesn't travel to tournaments anymore but I see him just a day a month at home, and he's always been great and sort of simplifying stuff for me and clearing stuff out of my mind that doesn't need to be there. And yeah, that's been the biggest help."

JC Ritchie started with an eagle at the tenth before birdies at the 13th and 18th offset a bogey at the 15th.

The South African moved to within one of Molinari with a hat-trick of birdies from the second, but he double bogeyed the sixth and finished at four under alongside Swiss Joel Girrbach.

Japan's Yuto Katsuragawa, China's Wenyi Ding, Spaniard Manuel Elvira, Italy's Andrea Pavan, Germany's Nicolai Von Dellingshausen and American pair Patrick Reed and Johannes Veerman were in a share of fifth at three under.

Tyrrell Hatton opened his title defence with a two under par 70 to sit alongside Ryder Cup team mate Shane Lowry among the group of 12 players one shot further back.

Three groups will return to finish their first round on Friday morning after play was suspended due to darkness at 17:50.

Meanwhile, Ross Fisher reached a major career milestone at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, making his 500th start on the DP World Tour - an achievement that underlines his longevity and consistency at the highest level of the game.

The Englishman is one of a select group to reach the landmark, having spent more than two decades competing on the DP World Tour.

It's pretty cool. It's obviously a unique milestone to achieve. I'd say when you first out on Tour, you never really have that goal in your mind. But throughout the years that I've been on Tour, I've seen some guys like Miguel and Howler and some other guys reach that milestone. To get that is pretty special, and to do it in such an iconic venue like here in Dubai, it's pretty cool.

I suppose consistency throughout my career. In the early days, I would say the last probably four or five years, it's been a bit of a struggle. Keeping last card two years in a row and having to rely on career money for this season's something that you never want to have to fall back on. You want to keep your playing rights but it's nice to have such a healthy and good career that I can fall back on the Career Money List.

Across his career, Fisher has claimed five DP World Tour titles, represented Europe at the 2010 Ryder Cup, and produced several standout performances, including a course-record 61 at St Andrews.

Pre-tournament favourites Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood opened their weeks with 1-over-par rounds of 73, with Joaquin Niemann and Dustin Johnson a shot worse off at 2-over-par. Australian PGA Champion David Puig is currently level par through 17 holes, and will complete his first round on Friday morning.

Drumoig's Connor Syme shot a level par round of 72, carding 2 birdies, 2 bogeys and 14 pars. Fellow Fifer Calum Hill shot a 1-over-par round of 73 which saw him turn in 39 before coming home in 34.