Garcia targets fast Friday start after grabbing opening round lead in Abu Dhabi Challenge
The Spaniard, currently 85th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, fired a seven-under-par opening round to lead by a single stroke over a chasing pack of four players on six-under: Denmark's Victor Sidal Svendsen, Germany's Freddy Schott, France's Robin Sciot-Siegrist, and fellow Spaniard Albert Boneta.
Garcia, 36, made a statement early with a birdie on the first and then eagled the driveable par-four fourth. Three more birdies followed around the turn before a steady run of pars and a final birdie on 16 capped an impressive round in the trickier afternoon conditions.
'It will be perfect because there will be no wind and a little fire will be taken out of the course. I won't change anything,' he said. 'This course, you need to be aggressive from the tee and second shots.'
Hot on his heels at six under are Dane Victor Sidal Svendsen, German Freddy Schott, France's Robin Sciot-Siegrist and fellow Spaniard Albert Boneta.
A further shot back on five under sit Scotland's Daniel Young, Dutchman Daan Huizing, France's Felix Mory and American Chase Hanna. A group of players at four under, including Sweden's Albin Bergstrom and Thailand's Denwit David Boriboonsub, remain well in contention.
Defending champion Garrick Porteous made an encouraging return with a three-under 67, despite having stepped back from full-time professional golf.
'If someone told me I was going to shoot three under today, I would have taken it straight away,' said Porteous. 'I felt very relaxed out there, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I've just got to keep on putting birdies on the scorecard around this place – you never know what can happen.'
UAE's Ahmad Skaik, fresh off becoming the first Emirati to make a cut in a European Tour group event last week, signed for an even-par 70 to keep himself in the mix.
'I was hitting the ball pretty well out there,' said Skaik. 'It was pretty tough, a difficult back nine as it was very windy. If you get the wrong yardage on a pin out here, the ball just lands and rolls because it's so firm. It was a challenging back nine, so I'll take level par. I wanted better, but I've put myself in a decent position again.'
Round two promises plenty of movement on the leaderboard as players look to position themselves for the weekend. Spectators can attend for free, with support from Abu Dhabi Sports Council, Arena, Al Laith, and eGolf Megastore helping to deliver another high-quality event on the HotelPlanner Tour.
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