Story highlights
Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano leads the Qatar Masters on six-under-par
Spaniard one shot ahead of American John Daly as sandstorms affect day one
Daly describes conditions at the Doha Golf Club as "brutal"
Jason Day and K.J. Choi tied on four-under with five players a further shot back
American veteran John Daly tamed “brutal” sandstorm conditions in Qatar to record a five-under-par round and sit one shot behind leader Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano.
Daly, who was playing his first tournament after a near six-week break from the game, battled strong gusts and swirling sand in Doha to shoot a bogey-free round of 67.
The 55-year-old, who can boast two major titles, no longer holds a U.S. PGA Tour card, but made light of the tough conditions.
“I’m pretty shocked,” he told the European Tour’s official website. “I had five-and-a -half weeks off and really didn’t touch a club much.
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“It’s one of the best rounds I’ve ever played in a wind like that. You feel like you are eating a lot of sand.”
The only man who had a better day than 1995 British Open winner Daly was Fernandez-Castano who recorded nine birdies alongside three bogeys.
“I would have taken level par,” said Fernandez-Castano, who missed nearly six months of action last year due to a back injury.
“We couldn’t see the ball landing on the fairways and I just tried to keep it as low as possible. I think I just got lucky and holed some important putts. Putting is the most difficult thing on a windy day.”
Australian Jason Day and K.J. Choi, from Korea, are two shots back from Fernandez-Castano on four-under while five players were tied on three-under, including 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie.
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World number two Lee Westwood finished on one-under as did Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, from Spain.
Westwood took to social-networking site Twitter after his opening round to complain about slow play on day one.
He said: “To say we are pros and there’s no rough out there and we are supposed to know what we are doing, the pace of play today was a disgrace.”
He later added: “I was referring to the general speed of play nearly every week now not any one person in particular. Same last week (in Abu Dhabi).”
