Trio of New Zealand golfers are well off the pace in the first round of the DP World Tour's Ras Al Khaimah Championship.
Ryan Fox is the best-placed after an even-par 72 on Thursday (Friday NZ Time) at the Al Hamra Golf Club, leaving him in a tie for 46th, nine strokes behind the clubhouse leader, Englishman Marcus Armitage.
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Fox, the world No 89, opened with a birdie before six consecutive pars. He made a mess of the turn with wayward tee shots, making three straight bogeys at the eighth, ninth and 10th holes to drop to two-over.
He responded with birdies at the 11th and 13th holes to return to even, hitting his tee shot at the par-three close and putting his approach shot at the par-four inside four feet.
The 37=year-old made bogey at the 16th and birdie at the 18th to close his round.
Fellow Kiwis Kazuma Kobori (four-over through 17 holes) and Daniel Hillier (six-over) have a lot of work to do just to make the weekend cut.
Hillier, coming off a runner-up finish at last week's Dubai Desert Classic to jump 88 places to 135th in the world rankings, started his round in disastrous fashion, with a double-bogey at the par-four second and a triple-bogey at the par-five third after finding the water twice.
The 26-year-old recovered some of those shots with birdies at the fourth and eight, but bogeyed the ninth and then another double-bogey came at the par-four 10th, dropping him to six-over. He made two birdies and two bogeys on the run home.
Kobori will play the 18th hole to complete his first round on day two, after posting four birdies, four bogeys and two double-bogeys in a four-over 76.
The 23-year-old was one-over at the turn before a double-bogey at the 10th and bogey at the 11th. He made back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th but immediately gave those strokes back with a double-bogey at the par-three 15th.
All three New Zealanders will tee off their second rounds on Friday from the 10th hole, with Fox and Hillier at 8.10am local time (5.10pm NZT), and Kobori at 9am local time (6pm NZT).