Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland both had eventful returns to action with some highlight reel moments in the opening round of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai.
McIlroy had two of the luckiest bounces you'll see from the same creek on 18 at the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates, and also saw a tee shot land in the lap of a spectator as he shot a one-under 71.
McIlroy was crowned as the Race To Dubai champion for a fifth time before the final tournament of the season started.
Hovland, meanwhile, carded a three-under round of 69 and showed he's still improving his short game with a shot off a wooden bridge also making the day one highlights.
McIlroy admitted to feeling a little rusty and had to scramble down the back nine after a decent start - but he also had a couple of huge slices of luck as he made the most eventful of par fives on the last.
The four-time Major champion saw his tee shot bounce out of the creek and into the mulch on the right of the 18th fairway, form where he found the drink again only for again the ball to bounce out and up onto a wooden bridge.
McIlroy was then in two minds about what shot to play from the edge of the bridge, but eventually wedged it onto the green and two-putted for the most unlikely par.
"Little rusty," admitted McIlroy to Sky Sports after the round. "Got off to a nice start but hit a couple of loose shots on the back nine and felt like I was scrambling the whole way there.
Rory avoids the water but finds the bridge at 18 🤯 #DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/zldV01WNarNovember 16, 2023
“I was hoping my tee shot [on 18] would miss the hazard right but I didn’t think it would do what it did, and then the second shot from the mulch started left on me and I got another stroke of luck with it coming back over the bridge.
"I was a bit in two minds about whether to go left and cut it or go right, and I felt with the longer club by cutting it there was a chance of clipping the bridge on the way through, so I took a wedge and hit it as hard as a could and ended up making a good five."
And all that came after a tee shot from McIlroy had ended up in the lap of a spectator, who remained still sat on the ground until the rules official came to let McIlroy take a drop.
Rory McIlroy's tee shot lands on spectator 's lap! 🤯#DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/Yklsw5NqhqNovember 16, 2023
Hovland picked up five birdies against two bogeys in his first tournament round since the Ryder Cup - which included that shot off the bridge to illustrate his vast short game improvement over the last year or so.
"It's incredible," Hovland said of his short game improvement. "Even just the up-and-down on 1, like the shot that I hit from the bridge on 17, I could have easily, if I hit that short, comes rolling back down and it might go in the water.
"So it's just every time I miss a green, I'm like, okay, I can do this.
"I hit the worst shot on 13, short-sided right and didn't have much room to work with. Hit a really nice kind of flop shot out of the rough and almost made it.
"It just turns the game completely around. If I hit a bad shot, it's not the end of the world, whereas before it would be an automatic bogey."
Viktor Hovland plays from the bridge at 17 😳#DPWTC | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/is11nlE35sNovember 16, 2023
Playing alongside McIlroy, Jon Rahm had a few frustrating moments in a bogey-bogey finish that saw him finish with a level-par round of 72.
Unlike McIlroy, the Spaniard's ball stayed in the water on the 18th and the drop he had to take cost him a shot.
Nicolai Hojgaard shares the lead after the first round with Matthieu Pavon and Julien Guerrier after the trio all shot five-under rounds of 67.
The second round of the DP World Tour Championship will be a two-tee start due to the forecast of some bad weather in Dubai on Friday.
