Ryan Fox has shaken off rust and driver issues in a solid start to his second tournament of the year as the Dubai Desert Classic got off to a wet start.

Playing with world No 1 Rory McIlroy and No 24 Tommy Fleetwood, Fox held his own with a three-under start in 16 holes before play was suspended due to fading light.

Play only began at the European Tour event after a delay of six hours caused by heavy overnight rain that left the course unplayable at Emirates Golf Club.

By the time the siren sounded to suspend play, Fox was two shots back of the leader, Belgium’s Thomas Pieters, in a tie for eighth.

After struggling in his first start of 2023 at the Abu Dhabi Championship, where he later revealed that he was forced to play with a broken driver, Fox bounced back with five birdies and two bogeys — with the Kiwi world No 30 topping his playing partner McIlroy by one stroke.

Reed fares better than McIlroy

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays his second shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Photo / AP

All eyes were on the top-ranked McIlroy, who was involved in pre-tournament friction with LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed, in his first tournament of the year.

Reed and McIlroy traded verbal blows Wednesday after an interaction — of sorts — at the practice range on Tuesday that saw McIlroy snub Reed, who had gone over to wish the Northern Irishman a happy new year. Reed walked away before tossing a tee — featuring a logo of his 4 Aces team in the LIV Golf league — in the direction of McIlroy, one of the most vocal critics of the Saudi-run breakaway series.

Reed said it was “unfortunate” that McIlroy didn’t shake his hand and was quoted as describing McIlroy as “an immature little child.”

It has set the scene for a potential on-course head-to-head in Dubai between two of golf’s most high-profile players. It didn’t come Thursday, with McIlroy starting at No 10 in his first event of 2023 and Reed opening at the first hole.

Reed fared better than McIlroy and was four under par after 16 holes, while McIlroy was two under having played 15 holes.

Patrick Reed plays his second shot on the 9th hole during the first round of the Dubai Desert Classic. Photo / AP

Pieters was leading on five under, though he also had three holes to play. Three English players — Matthew Jordan, Daniel Gavins and Oliver Wilson — held the clubhouse lead after shooting rounds of 4-under 68.

“It’s certainly strange around here,” Jordan said of the wet conditions, “to see water hazards and stuff in places that you don’t expect it to be.”

McIlroy bogeyed two of his first six holes after leaving chips from the fringe short. He got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie at No 18, picked up more shots at No 2 and 3, and was lining up a birdie putt from inside four feet on No 7 when the siren went off.

Reed birdied three of his first five holes and rebounded from a bogey at No 10 by holing short birdie putts at Nos 12 and 14.

Fleetwood (15 holes) and Victor Perez (16 holes), who won the Abu Dhabi Championship last week, were also on four under when they had to leave the course.

Half the field had yet to get on the course and will start their first rounds on Friday. Players were informed in the early hours of Thursday morning that Emirates Golf Club was “inaccessible” and told not to travel to the course due to several roads being flooded following heavy rain.

Play finally got underway following a few hours of dry weather and a massive clean-up operation by ground staff.

“It’s tough,” Jordan said. “I mean, it was nice to see that at 5.20 am (local time) I could roll back over in bed and have a lie-in. So that was nice.”

Kiwi Daniel Hillier to return to play New Zealand Open

Daniel Hillier. Photo / Getty

One of the players yet to tee off in Dubai is Kiwi Daniel Hillier, who earned his DP World Tour card last year after finishing seventh in the Challenge Tour’s season rankings.

This week, Hillier committed to playing the 102nd New Zealand Open at Queenstown in March, which makes its return after the tournament was cancelled last year due to border restrictions and the country’s red light setting.

Hillier, one of the country’s most exciting young professionals, said he is looking forward to coming home and having a shot at putting his name on the trophy.

“I’m really looking forward to playing on home soil again,” he said. “The New Zealand Open in Queenstown is always a great event, and I’ll be making sure I bring my best game with me.

“The Open is on my bucket list of events to win, and I’m hoping to make the most of the confidence that the last few years on the Challenge Tour and now the DP World Tour has given me.”

Hillier, who finished in a share of 46th at the Abu Dhabi Championship last weekend, will tee off for his first round in Dubai later today.

This year’s New Zealand Open will be played between March 2–5 at Queenstown’s Millbrook Resort.

- with AP