Four birdies in the final five holes enabled Matt Wallace to make a strong start to the climax to the European Tour season.

Fresh from a good week in South Africa where he finished tied fifth at the Nedbank Golf Challenge, the Moor Park professional made a solid start to the DP World Tour Championship with six straight pars before he rolled in consecutive birdies at the seventh and eighth holes to go out in a two-under-par score of 34.

Those two shots were dropped with consecutive birdies at 12 and 13, but the 28-year-old responded well to that setback as he birdied 14 and 15 and then repeated the trick at 17 and 18 to finish his opening 18 holes in a four-under-par score of 68.

That meant Wallace ended the opening day two shots off the lead in a share of fifth alongside four other players, including Open champion and Ryder Cup hero Francesco Molinari, who is aiming to crown his season by winning the Race to Dubai at Jumeirah Golf Estates.

Wallace is also seeking to finish the season on a high after an excellent first full year on the European Tour has seen him win three titles – the Hero Indian Open, BMW International Open and Made in Denmark – narrowly miss out on a Ryder Cup spot and compete in three majors.