Callum Shinkwin shoots 11 birdies to lead Ras Al Khaimah Championship

Callum Shinkwin will take a two-stroke lead into day two of the Ras Al Khaimah Championship after a blistering opening round of 10-under 62 that featured no fewer than 11 birdies, eight of them on the bounce, at Al Hamra Golf Club.

The Englishman was already two-under when he started his run on the 16th, recording 10 birdies in 11 holes to spark talk of a 59.

A bogey on the seventh ended those hopes but he picked the shot straight back up on the next and his course-record equalling 10-under par total left him two ahead of countryman Richard Mansell and South African Brandon Stone.

Mansell also got to 10 under before making a double-bogey on the eighth, while Stone – back on the DP World Tour after a season on the European Challenge Tour – picked up six shots in his last seven holes in a 64.

Shinkwin's birdie run was just one short of James Nitties' DP World Tour record as he matched his lowest score on Tour from the 2016 Shenzhen International.

The 30-year-old arrived in Ras Al Khaimah fresh off a tie for 11th at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic and now has a third DP World Tour title firmly in his sights.

"I was a bit gutted about the seventh," he said. "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.

8⃣ birdies in a row!

Callum Shinkwin is officially on #59Watch