Cameron Young part of leading quartet at Hero Dubai Desert Classic

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Cameron Young eagled the final hole at Emirates Golf Club to grab a share of the lead at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic.

The 26-year-old holed a 50-foot putt from off the green at the par-5 18th to post a 5-under 67 and sit tied at the top Thursday with a past champion of the event, Haotong Li, as well as Rasmus Hojgaard and Andy Sulivan.

Young bogeyed the ninth to turn in 1-over par but carded four birdies and an eagle on his back nine including a birdie-birdie-eagle to finish.

“I played really well,” Young said. “The front-nine scoring was a little bit hard to come by. I think a little bit of wind and just a couple mediocre bounces but I feel like I played well all day.

“Kind of that nine aside, even with the score, I played better than that. So I was really happy with the back nine, but happy just that I stayed patient throughout the front nine and kind of let it come to me late.”

Rory McIlroy and Brian Harman were cruising in the first round, but then they came to their final stretch of holes.

McIlroy bogeyed three of his last four to shoot 1-under 71, and Harman, The Open champion who also started at No. 10, finished bogey-par-double to close on the same score to sit four strokes off the lead.

McIlroy, a three-time winner of the tournament, birdied five of his first 11 holes to be on the leaderboard at 4-under before he hit problems in the tough final holes of the front nine.

At No. 6, he missed a par putt from inside 4 feet. At No. 7, he duffed his chip from just off the green and couldn’t save par from 30 feet. He completed a hat trick of bogeys when he missed the eighth green from the middle of the fairway, was short again with his chip from the rough and missed a par putt from 10 feet.

Even No. 9, his final hole, involved some slight trauma. McIlroy drove into a bunker and then left himself an up-and-down from 21 yards, which he just about made when his par putt squeezed into the right of the cup, prompting a sigh of relief from the four-time major champion.

Harman’s round was damaged by a double bogey on the par-4 ninth that came after he hit his second shot out of the trees and into the water running down the left of the hole. The American had been on 4-under after 12 holes.

Li, the Dubai Desert Classic champion in 2018 when he held off McIlroy down the stretch, birdied his last hole to shoot 67 and break free from a group on 4-under, continuing his career rebound after finishing last year with 14 missed cuts and two withdrawals in his last 16 events.

“Yeah, it happens. Just golf,” he said of his form in 2023. “I don’t know — hopefully doesn’t happen again.”

Adrian Meronk, who recently picked up DP World Tour Player of the Year honors, sits T5 with Nicolai Hojgaard, Richard Mansell, Soren Kjeldsen, Sebastian Garcia and Louis de Jager. The first round will finish Friday morning after darkness suspended play.