FIRST footings for 2007 did not go well for North Yorkshire's club class golfer Simon Dyson.
The 29-year-old got off to a poor start to the New Year with a four-over par 76 that left him no fewer than 13 shots adrift of the leader after the first round of the Abu Dhabi championship in the United Arab Emirates.
Dyson, whose preparation for the tournament has been hampered by a wrist injury, dropped a shot on the opening par-four hole only to instantly retrieve that on the par-five second, at 594 yards the longest on the Abu Dhabi course. But that was the lone inroad Dyson made in the first round.
He suffered a double-bogey on the par-three seventh and, after a run of pars to steady the ship, he lost further ground with bogeys on the 16th and 18th holes to leave him well adrift of first round front-runner Philip Archer. He posted a nine-under 63 to lead the field by three shots going into today's second round.
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