Edfors and Lundberg beat Abu Dhabi desert hailstorm

Johan Edfors and Mikael Lundberg shot rounds of six-under par 66 to give a distinct Swedish flavour to the leaderboard at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship, which was disrupted by a heavy hailstorm on the opening day Thursday.

The sudden hailstorm, which turned the fairways and greens into a white carpet, forced play in the European Tour event to be suspended for two hours in the morning.

Thursday's play was finally suspended for bad light in the evening with none of the afternoon groups finishing their round.

Apart from Edfors and Lundberg, clubhouse leaders at 66, another Swede, Jarmo Sandelin, was among those tied at five-under 67. Italian Francesco Molinari and England's Oliver Fisher also shot rounds of 67.

"It was a bit of a surprise, because you don't expect that to come down in the desert," said a stunned Molinari after seeing the hail.

"It was a funny, new thing. Hopefully we won't get any of that in the next few days."

Defending champion Martin Kaymer of Germany finished at four-under 68, while double Major champion in 2008, Padraig Harrington of Ireland, started with a one-under 71.

Among those on the course, Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who secured his spot at the Masters this year by virtue of getting into the top-50 of the world rankings, and England's Anthony Wall were at four-under, while world No.2 Sergio Garcia was five-under after 10 holes only to drop shots in the next two to be at three-under after 13 holes.

Edfors, who now resides in Dubai, made seven birdies, but a three-putt bogey on the 14th and another three-putt for par on the 18th soured his round a bit.

The 33-year-old, who won three times on the European Tour in 2006 but struggled in the last couple of seasons, was delighted with his start.

"I made a few changes in my swing, but that was before 2006. I have worked very hard on my game and on my body in the last few years, and I really feel I am a much better player now than I was in 2006. But somehow, I was not getting the results," he said.

"I think that is slowly changing now. I am very happy with my overall game today and I looking forward to a good season in 2009."

Lundberg, a two-time winner on the European Tour including last year's Russian Open, said: "I just practiced for a few days in Dubai after a long break. My last event was the HSBC Champions in November. So, I am really happy with the score."

Kaymer, who won the 2007 edition of the tournament with a score of 15-under, said: "I am happy with the start, but I was not as good as last year. I didn't hit the ball very well today, but my putting was awesome."

Although one-under 71 wasn't the best score on a benign day, Harrington too expressed his delight with the start. Harrington made just two birdies as against a solitary bogey, all of them coming in his back nine.

After the round, Harrington said: "I suppose it's what I kind of expected. I felt reasonably good, coming at the end, but I was disappointed to make the bogey on the sixth.

"Had a couple of reasonable chances with shots into the last two greens. Maybe, a shot or two better was certainly what it felt like, but a one under is certainly passable.

"I am just trying to get myself going and get myself into position on Sunday afternoon, and if I can build to that, I'll be happy. I knew there would be some build up. One under is fine - keep shooting under par all year, I'll be okay."