Allenby sets pace on Earth

Allenby is one stroke ahead of the trio of Englishmen Lee Westwood and Chris Wood, and Camilo Villegas of Colombia, who each finished with a six-under 66. Allenby birdied on the 1st, 6th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th, 16th and 18th holes and could have finished with an eight-under total, but a lone blemish, a bogey on the par-five 14th, kept him from what would have been a superb eight-under.

Afterwards the 38 year old spoke of how he had only just adapted to his new set of clubs. "It was nice, I played well, hit the ball very well tee-to-green. I think I only missed one green [on the 17th], I was just in between clubs there and didn't really commit to the 5-iron. Overall, I hit well and just sort of cruised around," said Allenby, who made the half-way turn on 33.

"I only just got the clubs last week when I got home from the HSBC Champions event [in China]; they were sitting there. So I hit them once on the range and I was like, ‘Oh, will I, will I or won't I? I really liked the way they felt — the trajectory and the way the ball came off the face."

Soft turf

Allenby feels the soft and quick greens on Earth favour his style. "The greens are a little soft and quick actually, so it's a hard thing to gauge, but I definitely like them and I think it's going to help me."

Wood's first five holes were filled with excitement and generated three birdies and a bogey. He settled for par until the 14th and later birdied the final four, considered the toughest holes on the course.

Wood said advice from his caddie to step up the aggression helped his quick rise to the top. "My caddie, Dave, said he thought the intensity I was putting into my shots wasn't quite there. I really tried to focus on my target during the last four, and I've been working quite a lot on my swing. I definitely seemed to trust my swing a little bit more and it all worked out," said Wood.

Westwood, who is in a group of four that is still in contention for the Race to Dubai, bogeyed the 14th after four birdies. He recovered well though and picked up another three shots on the 15th, 16th and 17th. Westwood could have birdied the 18th as well, but misread the slope and rolled it just wide to finish with a par. "Got unlucky there. I hit a good tee shot, hit a lovely 3-wood. I think it was up front, and it pitched in some old divots that had been sanded where somebody else had been practising and it rolled around to the right," said Westwood, who is placed second in the Race to Dubai standings.

"I made a nice birdie with a chip-in [on the 15th], one of about four shots I hit stone dead all day. Great birdie on 16; got a read of Rory's [McIlroy] putt and made that one and then a 6-iron shot, right behind the hole on the 17th," he added.

Race to Dubai favourite McIlroy ended his day tied fifth on a four-under 68 with five others including Wen-chong Liang, Thomas Aiken, Adam Scott and Padraig Harrington.

First round:

Dubai World Championship, being played at the 7,675 yard Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates:

65 - Robert Allenby (AUS)

66 - Lee Westwood (ENG), Chris Wood (ENG), Camilo Villegas (COL)

68 - Rory McIlroy (NIR), Liang Wenchong (CHN), Thomas Aiken (RSA), Adam Scott (AUS), Padraig Harrington (IRL)

69 - Alvaro Quiros (ESP), Retief Goosen (RSA), Johan Edfors (SWE), Nick Dougherty (ENG)

70 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND), Geoff Ogilvy (AUS), Bradley Dredge (WAL), Gonzalo Castano (ESP), Simon Dyson (ENG), Raphael Jacquelin (FRA), Thongchai Jaidee (THA), Alexander Noren (SWE).