The Clara man is 7 shots off the lead.
Shane Lowry carded a 3 under par round of 69 on day one of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The Clara man is 7 strokes off the lead held by England's Tommy Fleetwood on 9 under.
Rory Mcllroy leads the Irish charge after round one.
He finished with a 5 under par round of 67.
Tom McKibbin is a shot further back after a 4 under par round of 68.
Lowry is the first of the Irish out tomorrow morning for round two, teeing off at 9:23am.
Tom McKibbin get's his second round underway at 11:28am, just ahead of Rory Mcllroy who is last out at 11:50am.
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