McIlroy posts three-under opening round at DP World Tour Championship, two shots shy of Luiten

Rory McIlroy made a strong start to his bid to equal Colin Montgomerie's record with a three-under-par opening round at the DP World Tour Championship this week, leaving him two shots behind early leader Joost Luiten.

The world number two is chasing a fifth successive Race to Dubai triumph. Spain's Eugenio Chacarra leads the Race to Dubai standings by 533.93 points over McIlroy with 2,000 points available to this week's winner at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

McIlroy carded five birdies and two bogeys in windy conditions, birdied two of his opening four holes before dropping a shot at the fifth, then birdied the seventh and 11th, took six at the par-five 14th and finished with a two-putt birdie four to end joint third.

"I think it was a pretty fair score," said six-time major winner McIlroy. "I could probably stand here and argue that I could have been better, but I could probably stand here and argue that I could have been worse as well. "I hit the ball well for the most part. It's tricky, the wind makes it tricky. The course set-up is a little more difficult than in previous years. "The greens are not like Yas Links (in Abu Dhabi) last week. They're not absolutely perfect, so you've got to have your patience a little bit on them too. Overall, happy with the score."

"You can't win it on the first day, but you can certainly lose it," added McIlroy. "I played nicely, so there was never any threat of me shooting a bad one. "But it was possible today to go out there and shoot a couple over and feel like you were sort of out of the tournament. "To get off to a solid start was very important."

Chacarra, who has won three times already this season, opened with a level-par 72; he finished his front nine with three straight birdies to turn in two-under 34 but dropped shots at the 13th and 15th to sit five strokes behind Luiten.

Dutchman Joost Luiten, described as the lowest-ranked player in the field, shot a 67 after turning in five under and cancelling two birdies with two bogeys on the back nine to finish one clear of Denmark's Jacob Skov Olesen (68). Patrick Reed struggled to a 75, while Jon Rahm produced an opening 71 with four birdies and three bogeys to sit alongside New Zealand's Daniel Hillier. Casey Jarvis, Jayden Schaper and Ryan Fox were at +2, Aaron Rai at +4, and Tommy Fleetwood managed a 76.

Nine players — Chacarra, McIlroy, Reed, Casey Jarvis, Aaron Rai, Jon Rahm, Ryan Fox, Jayden Schaper and Daniel Hillier — can still clinch the Race to Dubai, but only Chacarra and McIlroy can guarantee the season-long accolade with victory at Jumeirah Golf Estates this week.