Thomas Pieters grabs Dubai Desert Classic lead

Thomas Pieters was the man to catch at the top of the leaderboard when the first round of the weather-affected Hero Dubai Desert Classic was suspended due to fading light on Thursday evening.

Heavy overnight rain meant all tee times were delayed by six hours and five minutes on day one, with play finally getting under way at 13:15.

Only the first wave of starters teed off on Thursday - with the other half of the field having to wait until Friday - and just 12 players managed to complete their first rounds before the daylight ran out.  

Belgian Pieters suffered the disappointment of missing the cut at last week's Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship as his title defence fell flat.

But he bounced back brilliantly at the second Rolex Series event of the season at Emirates Golf Club, carding six birdies and a single bogey in his first 15 holes to get to five under par.

England's Daniel Gavins had sat alongside Pieters when the hooter sounded but opted to finish up at the 18th in near-darkness and surrendered a bogey to join the large group on four under.

Gavins and countrymen Oliver Wilson and Matthew Jordan signed for 68s to set the early clubhouse target, while last week's winner Victor Perez, Tommy Fleetwood and Patrick Reed were also on four under with a few holes remaining.

Nicolas Colsaerts, Ryan Fox, Fabrizio Zanotti and Matt Wallace were another shot back with holes still to complete.

Play will restart at 8:00 am on Friday morning, while the second wave will start their first rounds from 8:20 am.

How things stand as fading light brought day one to a close 📊 #HeroDDC | #RolexSeries

— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) January 26, 2023