Irish off the pace as Fantastic Fox leads way in Dubai

A putting tip paid instant dividends for Ryan Fox as he carded a course record-equalling 63 to set the pace in the Ras Al Khaimah Classic.

New Zealander Fox recorded 10 birdies and a solitary bogey at Al Hamra Golf Club to end the day on nine under par, two shots clear of Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia.

Nine players were a shot further back on six under, while Irish duo Jonathan Caldwell and Cormac Sharvin struggled to level par and one over respectively.

Caldwell was three over at one stage but birdies on 14, 16 and 18 were enough for a 72 and a share of 81st place.

Sharvin had five birdies but also a double bogey on the first and a triple on 12 after hitting his tee shot into the water.

Fox, who missed the cut in last week’s event on the same course, said: "I’ve shot some pretty low scores at home but struggled to bring that out here at times. It was nice to get in the zone, I just felt like I had control of the golf ball.

"I probably need to throw a couple of thanks out too. I struggled last week here with my back; I have my physio out here and the Tour physio has helped me out over the weekend and I feel 100 per cent this week, which was nice.

"Shaun Norris was nice enough to give me a putting tip on Tuesday when we played a practice round together and that seemed to work pretty well too so big shout out to those guys."

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