DUBAI — South Africa’s Richard Sterne fired a scintillating 10-under-par 62 in the Dubai Desert Classic first round Thursday to overshadow a fine start to the season by world No. 8 Lee Westwood.



World No. 165 Sterne’s 10-birdie round in scoring-friendly conditions was nearly matched by Scot Stephen Gallacher (63) while Race to Dubai money list leader Scott Jamieson, Tommy Fleetwood and Chris Doak were two shots further back.



Former world No. 1 Westwood (67) matched 56-year-old twice major winner and 2004 champion Mark O’Meara’s round thanks to a brilliant eagle at the par-five 18th, his ninth hole.



Despite a solitary birdie on the closing nine the Englishman was left beaming after a good day’s work.



“I felt very sharp - no rust there at all and I played better today than I finished off last year,” Westwood told reporters.



The five-time European Tour winner is hoping to notch up his first victory since 2008, when he recorded back-to-back wins in South Africa in December.



Also high on the leaderboard were former world No. 3 Paul Casey, now ranked 124th, who three-putted his last hole but still came away with a 66 to equal his playing partner, Italian teenager Matteo Manassero.



Casey put his excellent start down to the state of the greens, which the players were warned about pre-tournament in a letter from the event director, though the Englishman said fears about the course’s condition had not materialized. “It’s the best-conditioned golf course I’ve played this year by far. The guys are going to go bananas when you have a course as good as this,” he said.



O’Meara wants Singh banned



Twice major winner Mark O’Meara believes former world No. 1 Vijay Singh should be suspended by the PGA Tour after the Fijian admitted to using a spray to treat an injury which contains a banned substance.



The three-time major winner said he was unaware the deer-antler spray, which he has been using for a couple of months, contained an insulin-like growth factor that is banned by the US circuit.



O’Meara said he had a lot of respect for his friend Singh but that his situation should be no different to those who have been banned before.



Singh, 49, allegedly paid one of the owners of Sports with Alternatives to Steroids (SWATS) $9,000 in November for the spray and other products, Sports Illustrated said this week. Singh released a statement Wednesday at the Phoenix Open confirming he had taken it, that he was “shocked” and “angry” at himself and that he was in cooperation with the tour over the issue. — Agencies