Dubai: World No.6 Rory McIlroy carded a 63 — just two strokes off matching the course record — to take the overnight lead on day one of the $2.5 million Omega Dubai Desert Classic at Emirates Golf Club on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Northern Irishman, who got his first professional win at this event in 2009, hit five birdies on his outward nine and returned with two birdies either side of an eagle on the third hole.

His opening round — two strokes clear of next-placed Edoardo Molinari — almost rivalled the lowest recorded at the par-72 7,344-yard Majlis Course, a 61 hit by South Africa’s Ernie Els back in 1994.

“When I eagled three and that got me to eight under par, I guess I had six holes left and needed five birdies for the magical number,” McIlroy said of his round.

“And then I didn’t birdie the par three, the fourth, and then the fifth hole — I felt like I hit a really good putt there but it didn’t go in. And that was when I thought, if I could birdie the last five holes, I’ve done it before maybe, but no.

“After that I wanted to shoot 62. I shot a 62 in a casual round at The Els [Club in Dubai] this week and wanted to try and shoot two 62s in one week. But it wasn’t quite possible. I came up one short.”

Having finished tied for second at his season-opening Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship a fortnight ago, McIlroy is clearly on form.

“I drove it well and I can really take advantage of hitting it long and straight here. I got a lot of wedges into greens,” he said.

“That’s the key to my game and, if I can keep doing that, hopefully scores like this will become more regular.”

Asked if this was his best round since 2012, having gone 12 months without a win until last month’s Australian Open, McIlroy said: “I think shooting 66 to beat Scotty [Adam Scott] last year was up there. It’s definitely the lowest round I’ve shot in a while, the way I controlled my ball and the way I played, it’s definitely up there.”

Elsewhere, World No.1 Tiger Woods hit a 68 and sits tied for tenth in the leaderboard, with four birdies on his outward nine.

“The greens are perfect, absolutely perfect,” he said. “They are nowhere near as firm as they were on Tuesday. They have softened them up so they are a little more receptive, but they are still just as fast.

“I’m sure the guys in the afternoon probably wont go as low. They are definitely drying out. They were drying out as we were playing. So you’ve got to make hay in the morning and we were able to do that.”