Alejandro Del Rey and Freddy Schott sparkled during the opening round of the 2026 Bapco Energies Bahrain Championship to share the lead at seven under.
Spaniard Del Rey has yet to miss a cut on what is his fifth start of the 2026 DP World Tour campaign and he continued his rich vein of form with a flawless 65 at Royal Golf Club.
Del Rey, who earlier this week celebrated the one-year anniversary of his maiden title at this level at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship, set the initial clubhouse target thanks to five birdies on the front nine and two more on his way home.
He was later joined by Germany's Schott who ended his roller coaster round with a closing birdie-eagle to share the lead at seven under, ahead of a logjammed leaderboard which saw 28 players sit within four shots.
"It was nice, a quick start. I took advantage of the morning, that it was a little bit calmer with the wind. I’m very happy with the round," Del Rey said.
"I really enjoy this first Swing (of the year) here in the desert. I’ve always enjoyed it. I’ve had my highs and my lows, but I’ve always felt very comfortable out here and the course, I feel like it suits me well. I really enjoy my time here in January especially."
Del Rey made a flying start after opening with a hat-trick of birdies before adding another treble from the eighth to surge into contention at six under.
He was in a tie for the lead with New Zealand's Daniel Hillier, who was in the clubhouse, and when he drained his birdie putt at the 13th from nine feet, he was alone at seven under.
Schott, starting on the back nine, had powered his way into the chasing pack following an outrageous start of six birdies from his opening seven holes.
The German slipped back with a double bogey at the first before bouncing back with a birdie at the fourth. Schott dropped another shot at the seventh, but holed putts from the 17 and 13 feet at the eighth and ninth respectively for a birdie-eagle finish and a share of the lead.
"It was really good, especially the start. It started off well and finished well, so I’m very pleased," the German said.
Hillier mixed an eagle, five birdies and a bogey in his 66, Swede Niklas Lemke carded eight gains and two dropped shots, Germany's Nicolai Von Dellingshausen signed for an eagle, six birdies and two bogeys and Laurie Canter made a bold start to his title defence by picking up seven shots and one bogey to reach six under. India's Shubhankar Sharma matched Canter's card in his six-under 66.
Andrew Johnston, Scotland's Calum Hill, Frenchman Ugo Coussaud, Sweden's Mikael Lindberg, Finn Oliver Lindell and Italian Gregorio De Leo were one shot further back.
Play was suspended at 5.25pm local time due to darkness, with ten players to finish their first rounds on Friday morning.
