World No. 520 Zach Murray briefly had the lead on day one of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and, despite running out of gas at the finish, posted a 5-under-par 32-35=67 to end the opener in a tie for fifth and three back from leaders Renato Paratore and Shaun Norris.
The Aussie is making his tournament debut but took an immediate liking to Abu Dhabi GC this morning, roaring to 7-under after eight birdies against a bogey in his first 13 holes. Those red numbers came in an early burst at 1, 2, 4 and 5 while a bogey at 3 meant his first par didn’t arrive until the 6th. The 22-year-old, who was T36 at the Aussie PGA on his last start in December, continued on his merry way with further circles at 8, 10, 11 and 13. A really low one looked on the cards at that point but a 5-5-5 finish, equal to bogey-bogey-par, took him out of the lead. Still, this was a fine day for Murray and he’s one to keep an eye on.