Dubai: Defending champion Khalid Yousuf shot a three over par 74 to storm to an early five-stroke lead on the opening day of the 36-hole Lexus UAE National Golf Championship at the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club.

On a warm and sunny day when many struggled to string together their round on the 6,857-yard par 71 course, Yousuf dominated the field, rolling in birdies on the par-5 10th and par-4 15th to surge ahead of his nearest rivals Abdullah Obaidullah, and Omar Thabit, both carding a 79. One shot further off the pace on a gross 80 and in third place were the trio of Khalid Mubarak, Mohammad Al Thani and Abdullah Al Thani.

Despite taking a commanding lead, Yousuf, the 15-year-old prodigy from the Montgomerie Dubai was far being satisfied with his efforts.

Not the best day

"I could have easily shot a 69, but missed many small birdie putts -- two from one foot," he said after the first round.

"I never really felt on top of my game and could not hit my best shots. May be tomorrow it's a different day," said Yousuf, who took a swim in the water on the par-6 sixth and ended up making a bogey, his first of the day. Yousuf also dropped shots on the 7th, ninth, 11th and 17th.

Veteran Obaidullah excelled in patches, but dropped eight shots on three holes an indifferent show which prevented him from catching up with run-away leader Yousuf.

Obaidullah, who has the distinction of finishing runner-up three times in the premier championship, however, birdied the short fifth and eighth to make the turn at 38, despite a triple bogey on the sixth when he went into the water.

Obaidullah started the back nine, dropping three shots on the par-5, 10th and then double bogeyed the 18th to round off an inconsistent day on the field.

Omar Thabit made a confident start to his round and was one under par going into the sixth which he double bogeyed and then dropped shots in the next three holes to finish the front nine at 40.

A birdie on the 12th helped the seven handicapper from the Abu Dhabi Golf Club Sheraton to move into the sparsely-populated leaderboard.

Much was expected of Abdullah Mosharrekh, but the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club youngster stumbled a bit and carded a gross 81, one shot ahead of Khalid Al Halyan and Mohammad Al Murad.

Among others, former champion Walid Al Attar made a gross 89 while Khalfan Al Ka'abi shot an 84 and Ahmad Al Mosharrekh, the winner of the Lexus UAE National Junior Championship, posted an indifferent 87.

SCORES

First round leaders (gross): Khalid Yousuf 74, Abdullah Obaidullah 79, Omar Thabit 79, Khalid Mubarak 80, Mohammad Al Thani 80, Abdullah Al Thani 80, Abdullah Al Mosharrekh 81, Khalid Al Halyan 82, Mohammad Al Murad 82, Khalfan Al Ka'abi 84, Saeed Malek 86, Ahmad Al Mosharrekh 87, Saleh Al Ameri 87.

Nett Division: Mohammad Al Thani 68, Abdulwahed Al Qasim 69, Khalid Mubarak 70, Abdullah Obaidullah 70, Mana Al Mana 70, Khalid Yousuf 71, Omar Thabit 72.