Everything you need to know from day one in Ras Al Khaimah.
Callum Shinkwin had a birdie bonanza, Richard Mansell sped to the turn, Ricardo Gouveia was hoping to stick around and Yannik Paul enjoyed some sibling support in round one of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
Here is everything you need to know from day one at Al Hamra Golf Club.
Birdie blitz hands Shinkwin lead
Shinkwin made a remarkable eight birdies in a row as he carded a brilliant 62 to take a two-shot lead after round one. The Englishman was already two under when he started his run on the 16th, recording ten birdies in 11 holes to send talk of a 59 rippling around Al Hamra Golf Club. A bogey on the seventh ended those hopes but he picked the shot straight back up on the next and his ten under par total left him two ahead of countryman Mansell and South African Brandon Stone. Portuguese Gouveia, Frenchman Frederic Lacroix and German Freddy Schott were then at seven under. "I was a bit gutted about the seventh," said Shinkwin. "It's not easy to get a 59 on a par 72 course but I just kept going, making birdie after birdie and didn't really think about 59. I wanted to beat (his previous 62) by one because when you have a record you always want to keep beating those records but eight years down the line I've shot a 62 again so I'm happy."
Sibling support proves key for Paul
Sibling support comes naturally to the Paul twins. Despite their professional golf journeys taking them in different directions, they continue to be there for each other. We got the latest reminder of this after DP World Tour winner Yannik credited his US-based brother Jeremy for some wise words of encouragement following his first-round 67. After a top-10 finish at the Dubai Invitational was followed by a missed cut at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, Yannik felt his driving wasn’t where it should be and turned for support. "This morning on the range I wasn’t hitting it super well," he said. "I texted my brother because he just got back to Arizona and it’s a 12-hour time difference. I asked him for a quick tip, he texted me right back and it got much better after that – so that was nice."
Gouveia looking to build strong platform
Gouveia is hopeful that a strong start to the 2024 campaign can help him establish himself as he starts his sixth full season on the DP World Tour. The Portuguese topped the European Challenge Tour Rankings in 2015 but after four seasons on the DP World Tour found himself back on the Challenge Tour in 2020, graduating again in 2021 before once again losing his playing privileges. A third promotion last season now sees him back on the DP World Tour and after making the cut at last week's Hero Dubai Desert Classic, he started this week with a bogey-free 65. "It's a marathon but it's good to have a good start to not let it all rely on the last few events," he said. "It's been kind of my trend since 2017 when I'm on Tour so I want to get off to a fast start and keep playing well throughout the season."
Eagles send Mansell flying
It's not often you play nine holes in 29 shots and it's even rarer to do it with two eagles. Starting on the tenth, Mansell put irons inside ten feet on the tenth, 11th and 13th before leaving himself just three feet on the 14th and holing a bunker shot on the 18th for that brace of big birds. He was ten under at one point before a double-bogey but will head into Friday just two shots back. "I played brilliant today," he said. "I had one bad hole. The stuff I'm working on, I'm going to choose to focus on the good stuff because there was a lot of it today."
No putter required
Mansell was not the only one holing out from off the putting surface - take a bow Adrian Otaegui.
